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Cornell University Library 
 PA 78 .U6B47 1911 
 
 The teaching of Latin and Greek in the s 
 
 3 1924 021 597 392 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021597392 
 
AMERICAN TEACHERS SERIES 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 JAMES E. RUSSELL, Ph.D. 
 
 DEAN OF TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE 
 
 TEACHING OF LATIN AND GREEK IN THE 
 SECONDARY SCHOOL 
 
 BY 
 CHARLES E. BENNETT, A.B. 
 
 AND 
 
 GEORGE P. BRISTOL, A.M. 
 
 PROFESSORS IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
The Teaching of Latin and 
 
 Greek in the Secondary 
 
 School 
 
 BY 
 CHARLES E. BENNETT, A.B. 
 
 AND 
 
 GEORGE P. BRISTOL, A.M. 
 
 PROFESSORS IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 NEW EDITION 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE &> 30TH STREET, NEW YORK 
 
 LONDON, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA 
 
 191I 
 
 Vj,L>, 
 
Copyright, igoo, 
 By Longmans, Green, and Co. 
 
 Copyright, igii. 
 By Longmans, Green, and Co. 
 
 First Edition, January, igoo. 
 
 Reprinted, March, 1903, September, 1906. 
 
 Revised, March, 1911, 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS . JOHN WILSON 
 AND SON * CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 
 
Editor's Preface 
 
 Secondary education is no new thing. Human soci- 
 ety has always granted commanding positions to men 
 who were qualified by natural ability and special train- 
 ing to lead their fellows. With advancing civilization 
 the need of specially trained leaders became increas- 
 ingly apparent; schools were eventually established to 
 meet this need. Such institutions, however rudimentary 
 their course of instruction, were essentially secondary 
 schools. Thus the schools of the grammarians and 
 rhetoricians were calculated to develop leadership in the 
 forum at a time when oratory was a recognized power 
 in the pohtical life of Greece and Rome. Later in the 
 Middle Age the Church became the dominant social 
 force, and gave rise to cathedral and monastic schools 
 for the education of the clergy. With the founding of 
 universities, however, the secondary schools took over 
 the preparation of promising youths for professional 
 study in the interests of Church and State. And this 
 function has continued to be the chief characteristic of 
 secondary education until the present time. 
 
 The modern elementary school, on the other hand, 
 is of comparatively recent growth. In a certain sense 
 every man is educated, but historically the education of 
 
viii EDITOR'S PREFACE 
 
 the masses comes for the most part through custom 
 and tradition and the ordinary experiences of hfe. 
 Schools for the people and formal instruction are not 
 required until there is universal recognition of individ- 
 ual worth, such as the worth of the human soul which 
 inspired Luther to found the elementary schools of 
 Germany, or the worth of the citizen and his political 
 rights under a representative government which led 
 to the public schools of America and England. The 
 recognition of such rights by a democratic society obvi- 
 ously leads to a complete school system in which the 
 line of demarcation between its various divisions, as ele- 
 mentary, secondary, and higher, is arbitrarily drawn. 
 
 The ideals which determine the growth of educational 
 systems never remain long fixed ; they change from age 
 to age to conform to the development of the political, 
 economic, and spiritual Hfe of a people. The mediaeval 
 school system was quickly overthrown in Protestant 
 countries by the combined influence of the humanists 
 and the reformers. And the Protestant schools, in 
 turn, held undisputed sway only so long as their reli- 
 gious ideals found popular support. Within the last 
 hundred years another transformation has been effected 
 in .the educational ideals of the western world, and new 
 school systems have been evolved under the direction 
 of the State for the purpose of promoting civil order 
 and social stability. The social mind has come to 
 recognize the fact that the Church is no longer able to 
 shape society as it once did ; and it also recognizes 
 that each generation is under moral obligations to im- 
 prove its cultural inheritance and transmit it unentailed. 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE ix 
 
 Hence the resort to the strongest force in modern 
 society for the accomplishment of this purpose. The 
 process of sociaHzing the individual — of making him 
 an efficient, intelligent, loyal member of society — has 
 no mean significance. The end in view is one of the 
 greatest of human needs ; and it is equally the concern 
 of every parent and every citizen. 
 
 School reform, however, never amounts to complete 
 revolution. The organization and administration of 
 school systems may be revolutionized by ministerial 
 rescript, as in Prussia during the Napoleonic wars, or 
 by act of Parliament, as in England within the past 
 thirty years, or by the adoption of a constitution, as in 
 many American states, but the instruction of children 
 cannot be reached by legal enactment or popular vote. 
 The average teacher will consistently conform to the 
 letter of the law and as persistently violate its spirit. 
 The result is that long after new ideas are distinctly 
 enunciated, even after they are generally accepted by 
 intelligent persons, the strangest confusion often per- 
 vades the class-room. Teachers are naturally conserva- 
 tive; they can teach only what they themselves have 
 learned, and the traditions of the profession combined 
 with their own acquired habits incline them to teach as 
 they themselves have been taught. Thus the prevailing 
 means and methods of instruction do not always con- 
 form to the accepted standards of education, and reform 
 is halted midway in its course. 
 
 Great progress has been made in recent years, but 
 the results which show up so well on paper are not in 
 all respects satisfactory. We have state school systems 
 
X EDITOR'S PREFACE 
 
 well organized and thoroughly equipped ; we have, too, 
 institutions in great variety serving ends of their own 
 choosing. The growth has been in two. directions, 
 from the top downward and from the bottom upward. 
 The colleges have dipped down into the lower strata 
 and given rise to preparatory schools largely patronized 
 by the favored classes of society ; the common schools, 
 imbued with more democratic sympathies, have ex- 
 panded into public high schools in which social distinc- 
 tions have no place. The preparatory school aims to 
 send its pupils to college ; the ways and means of best 
 attaining this purpose are conditioned by what the col- 
 lege wants and what it will accept. The American 
 high school, in its effort to serve all classes, purports to 
 be a school preparatory both for college and the ordi- 
 nary avocations of life. One class in the community 
 expects it to complete the educational structure begun 
 in the common schools ; another class expects it to lay 
 a substantial foundation for further academic training. 
 Thus the confusion resulting from the natural conserva- 
 tism of the teacher is worse confounded by conflicting 
 social interests. 
 
 In all the field of education there are no problems 
 more difficult to solve than those pertaining to the 
 work of the secondary school. What is the aim of 
 secondary education ? What is its function in modern 
 society? What knowledge is of most worth? What 
 means and methods produce the best results? Such 
 questions as these come to every secondary teacher and 
 demand an answer. The most encouraging sign of the 
 times is the growth of a teaching profession pledged to 
 
EDITOR'S PREFACE xi 
 
 study these problems intelligently and to find some 
 rational solution of them. 
 
 The " American Teachers Series," the first volume of 
 which is herewith presented, will review the principal 
 subjects of the secondary school curriculum. The pur- 
 pose is to discuss the educational value of each subject, 
 the reasons for including it in the curriculum, the selec- 
 tion and arrangement of "materials in the course, the 
 essential features of class instruction and the various 
 helps which are available for teachers' use. These 
 books are not intended to correct the faults of ignorant 
 teaching ; they are not put forth as manuals of infallible 
 methods. They are merely contributions to the pro- 
 fessional knowledge necessary in secondary education. 
 They are addressed to teachers of liberal culture and 
 special scholarship who are seeking to make their 
 knowledge more useful to their pupils and their pupils 
 
 more useful to the State. 
 
 JAMES B. RUSSELL. 
 
 Teachers College, 
 
 Columbia University. 
 
Contents 
 
 THE TEACHING OF LATIN IN THE SECONDARY 
 SCHOOL 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction — Historical Position of the Study of Latin 
 
 IN Modern Education i 
 
 Chapter 
 
 I. The Justification of Latin as an Instrument of 
 
 Secondary Education 6 
 
 II. The Beginning Work 50 
 
 I. The Beginner's Book 51 
 
 II. Pronunciation 66 
 
 in. The "Inductive "Metliod 80 
 
 IV. Reading at Sight 85 
 
 V. Unseen Translation 103 
 
 VI. What Latin Reading should Follow the Elementary 
 
 Work? 106 
 
 III. What Authors are to be Read in the Secondary 
 
 School, and in what Sequence? iii 
 
 I. What Author should be Read First ? in 
 
 II. Should Cicero Precede or Follow Virgil ? .... 119 
 
 III. Should Virgil's Eclogues be Read in the Secondary 
 
 School? 121 
 
 IV. Sallust 123 
 
 V. Ovid 124 
 
 VI. Five-year and Six-year Latin Courses 124 
 
xiv CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 IV. Conduct of the Secondary Work in Latin ... 131 
 
 I. General Points on which Emphasis should be Laid . 131 
 
 a. Translation 131 
 
 b. Subject Matter 133 
 
 c. Grammar 134 
 
 d. How Scientific should a School Grammar be ? 141 
 c. The Grammar a Book to be Studied and 
 
 Learned 144 
 
 II. Special Points to be Emphasized in Connection 
 
 with the Different Latin Authors Read in 
 
 the Secondary School 150 
 
 a. Caesar 150 
 
 b. Cicero 151 
 
 L. Virgil's jEneid 153 
 
 V. Latin Composition 158 
 
 Two Ways of Teaching it 158 
 
 The Purpose of Studying Latin Composition .... 160 
 
 Defects of the Newer Way i6i 
 
 VI. Latin Prosody - 175 
 
 Difficulties of Reading Latin Verse 175 
 
 ' Ictus ' not Stress 177 
 
 Points in which our Pronunciation of Latin fails to se- 
 cure Quantitative Accuracy 182 
 
 VII. Some Miscellaneous Points 191 
 
 a. Roman History 191 
 
 h. Comparative Philology 195 
 
 c. Etymology 196 
 
 d. Illustrative Material 197 
 
 Books 197 
 
 Maps 201 
 
 Photographs and Casts 201 
 
 VIII. The Preparation of the Teacher 202 
 
 Concluding Note 213 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 THE TEACHING OF GREEK IN THE SECONDARY 
 SCHOOL 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction — The Aim of Greek Study in the High 
 
 School 217 
 
 Chapter 
 
 I. Pronunciation 225 
 
 Theory and Practice 228 
 
 Accent in Pronunciation 232 
 
 Pronunciation of Proper Names 234 
 
 II. The Beginning Work 240 
 
 The Two Methods 240 
 
 The First Paradigms 242 
 
 The Development of Syntax 247 
 
 The First Reading 253 
 
 III. Xenophon and Other Prose Writers — The Greek 
 
 New Testament 256 
 
 The Conducting of Recitation 257 
 
 Omissions in the Anabasis 261 
 
 Further Prose Reading 263 
 
 The Greek New Testament 267 
 
 IV. Homer 271 
 
 The Problem of Selection 274 
 
 Reading of the Text 274 
 
 Interpretation of the Text 278 
 
 Translating Homer 282 
 
 English Versions of Homer 284 
 
 Homeric Language 292 
 
 What Portions to Read 294 
 
 V. Greek Composition 298 
 
 Object of Composition 300 
 
 Articulation of Clauses 301 
 
 Suggestions for Practice 305 
 
xvi CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter Pace 
 
 VI. Geography and History 308 
 
 History Part of Work in Greek 309 
 
 Importance of Correct Maps 310 
 
 Division of History into Periods 314 
 
 Modern Greece, Land and People 319 
 
 VII. Mythology and Art 321 
 
 Greek Mythology in English Literature 324 
 
 Greek Art 326 
 
 Materials for Illustration of Greek Art 328 
 
 The Teacher and his Work 330 
 
 Appendix 33' 
 
 Index 333 
 
 Map of the Greek World Facing page 311 
 
THE TEACHING OF LATIN IN THE 
 SECONDARY SCHOOL 
 
 BY 
 CHARLES E. BENNETT, A.B. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
The Teaching of Latin in the 
 Secondary School 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 HISTOKICAIi POSITION OF THE STUDY OP LATIN IN 
 MODEEN EDUCATION 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Paulsen, F. Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts auf den deutschen 
 Schulen und Universitaten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Ge- 
 genwart. Leipzig. 1885. Second ed., 1897. 
 
 Dettweiler, F., in Baumeister, A., Handbuch der Erziehungs- und 
 Unterrichtslehre fUr hohere Schulen. Vol. iii. Didaktik und Methodik 
 der einzelnen Lehrfacher, Erste Halfte, III. Lateinisch, p. 7 ff., 'Die 
 geschichtliche Entwickelung des lateinischen Unterrichts.' 
 
 It ^ is a sufficiently familiar fact that, whatever con- 
 siderations now determine the retention of Latin as 
 
 an instrument of the higher education, its „ _ 
 
 ° ' Fosltion of 
 
 place was not origmally secured as the re- tatin in the 
 suit of conscious deliberation and choice, but ™*^*-^**- 
 purely as the result of irresistible historical circum- 
 stances. The pohtical, ecclesiastical, and literary con- 
 ditions of the Middle Ages made the study of Latin 
 indispensable to every person of station. Latin was 
 the language of the Church, of the State, of law, of 
 scholars, of the professions. It was studied there- 
 fore in the monastic schools with the object of ac- 
 
 1 In this introductory chapter I have drawn largely upon the treat- 
 ment of Dettweiler above cited. 
 
 I 
 
2 INTRODUCTION 
 
 quiring a practical mastery of the spoken idiom for 
 actual use. Pupils were trained in the preparation 
 of letters and such other documents as the necessities 
 of the political and ecclesiastical life of the day de- 
 manded. Latin was not only the medium of instruction 
 in the schools, but was also the medium of all conversa- 
 tion. The Latin authors read served merely the pur- 
 pose of increasing and improving the pupil's knowledge 
 of the language and his facility in its employment 
 The content of the Latin writers was practically disre- 
 garded throughout the entire period of the Middle 
 Ages. This conception of the function of Latin natu- 
 rally determined the method pursued in teaching. As 
 the Latin vocabulary was confessedly inadequate for 
 the needs of the day, it became necessary to add new 
 words, coined to cover new conceptions. These were 
 incorporated in special vocabularies, which pupils com- 
 mitted to memory. Mechanical oral reading was also 
 extensively practised, — often before the pupils were 
 capable of understanding what was read. Intended to 
 serve merely mechanical purposes, Latin was studied 
 exclusively in a mechanical way. Yet, irrational as the 
 method seems to us, we can hardly deny that it was 
 entirely consistent with the purposes which the study 
 was at that time intended to subserve. Nor can we 
 feel surprise that, with this conception of the function 
 of Latin, there should have prevailed a low and almost 
 barbarous standard in the employment of the spoken 
 and written idiom. 
 
 With the humanistic revival of the fourteenth and fif- 
 teenth centuries there manifested itself an altered and 
 The Human- ^ loftier conception of Latin study. This new 
 istic Revival, conception was a natural and inevitable result 
 of the fundamental spirit of the humanistic movement. 
 While throughout the Middle Ages all intellectual life 
 
INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 had culminated in the ecclesiastical ideals of the scho- 
 lastic philosophy, the new movement placed man, human 
 capacities, human achievements, and human aspirations 
 in the foreground. The great works of classical anti- 
 quity were recognised as of vital importance in under- 
 standing and solving the new problems. 
 
 This conception of Latin as an instrument of educa- 
 tion speedily wrought a revolution in methods of teach- 
 ing. Hitherto both form and content of the Latin 
 masterpieces had been neglected. Now both began to 
 meet recognition. The great Latin classics were read 
 and studied for their vital bearings on the intellectual 
 life and aspirations of the new era. They were no 
 longer primarily a means of acquiring a familiarity with 
 the disjecta membra of the barbarous idiom which had till 
 recently prevailed. 
 
 Along with this appreciation of the substance of 
 Roman thought went an appreciation for the form in 
 which it was expressed. The spirit of the day was 
 anti-barbarous to a degree. Correctness and elegance 
 of diction came to be a passion with the Latinists of 
 the time. This tendency naturally went too far, and 
 we notice the beginning of an arbitrary exaltation of 
 the Ciceronian manner of speech as the sole example 
 worthy of imitation, — an attitude which unfortunately, 
 despite frequent and vigorous protest, is still widely 
 prevalent to-day. 
 
 It is essentially this humanistic conception of Latin 
 study which has prevailed in modern education since the 
 Renaissance. The special details of devel- i^anii, 
 opment for Germany may be found pre- Recent xtoes. 
 sented by a master hand in the work of Paulsen above 
 cited. So far as I know, no such presentation of the 
 historical stages of Latin study in any other European 
 country is yet available. Probably in no other would 
 
4 INTRODUCTION 
 
 such a history have the interest or the historical and 
 pedagogical significance afforded by the experience 
 of the German schools. 
 
 In the United States, Latin, as a study of the sec- 
 ondary education, naturally started with purely English 
 In the United traditions. These traditions fortunately were 
 states. humanistic in the best sense. Still, for a long 
 
 time Latin was thought to be peculiarly a study for boys 
 who were preparing for college. In the earlier history 
 of this country this meant that Latin was thought to 
 have educative importance primarily for those looking 
 forward to activity in the church, in letters, in the law, 
 in medicine, or in teaching. During the last generation 
 in particular a different attitude seems to be manifesting 
 itself. The number of students of Latin in our second- 
 ary schools has in recent years been increasing out of all 
 proportion to the number of students who go to college. 
 Unless this phenomenon be attributed to an unaccount- 
 able infatuation, it admits to my mind of but a single 
 interpretation : Latin is now recognised as an important 
 element of secondary education for the average pupil, 
 whether he be intending to go to college or not. It 
 is perhaps unfortunate that the present tendency to- 
 wards a larger study of Latin in our schools cannot 
 be traced to any recent sober discussions of the value 
 of Latin ; in fact it is not a little surprising that this 
 rapidly increased recognition has occurred in the face 
 of the most vigorous assaults upon the classics which 
 this country has ever witnessed. Yet experience is 
 the great teacher, more convincing than all the argu- 
 ments of the academicians. Is it too bold to say that 
 the experience of those who have studied Latin and 
 of those who have seen the positive results of the study 
 upon others, is after all the ultimate reason which is 
 at present so potent in winning increased recognition 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 for Latin? Whatever the cause of the existing con- 
 ditions, they are with us. That they may be permanent 
 is to be hoped. That there is abundant justification 
 for their permanence, it will be the aim of the following 
 chapter to show. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE JUSTIFICATIOIf OP LATIN AS AW INSTRUMENT 
 OE SECONDARY EDUCATION 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY.i 
 
 Laurie, S. S. Lectures on Language and Linguistic Method. Cam- 
 bridge University Press. 1890. Chapter i. and particularly Chapter vii. 
 
 Chapters on the Aims and Practice of Teaching, edited by Frederic 
 Spencer. Cambridge University Press. 1897. Chapter ii., Latin, by 
 "W. L. Paton. 
 
 Fouillee, Alfred. Education from a National Standpoint. London, 
 Arnold. New York, Appleton. 1892. 
 
 Handbuch der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre fiir hohere Schulen, 
 herausgegeben von A. Baumeister. Munich. C. H. Beck'sche Ver- 
 lagsbuchhandlung. i8g8. Didaktik und Methodik der einzelnen Lehr- 
 facher. III. Lateinisch, von P. Dettweiler. 
 
 Boyesen, H. H. ; Brandt, H. C. G. ; Sachs, Julius ; Mackenzie, James 
 C. ; and others, in Proceedings of the First Annual Convention (1893) 
 of the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools in the Middle 
 States and Maryland. Published for the Association. Philadelphia. 
 1894. pp. 38-64. 
 
 Paulsen, Friedrich. Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts auf den 
 deutschen Schulen und Universitaten. Leipzig. 1885. Veit & Comp. 
 Particularly " Schlussbetrachtung." pp. 755-784. 
 
 Harris, "W. T. On the Function of the Study of Latin and Greek in 
 Education. Journal of Social Science. 1885. 
 
 Harris, W. T. A Brief for Latin. Educational Review. April, 
 1899. 
 
 Peck, Tracy. Discussion in School Review. 1893. pp. 593 ff. 
 
 Shorey, Paul. Discipline vs. Dissipation. School Review. 1897. 
 pp. 217 ff. 
 
 Collar, W. C. ; Burgess, Isaac ; Manny, Frank. Proceedings of the 
 National Educational Association. 1896. pp. 563 ff. 
 
 Bennett, C. E. Latin in the Secondary School. School Review. 
 May, 1893. 
 
 Spencer, Herbert. Education, Intellectual, Moral, and Physical. 
 London, Williams & Norgate. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1861. 
 
 1 Only the more important recent literature is here cited. 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 7 
 
 Bain, Alexander. Education as a Science. London, Kegan Paul 
 & Co. New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1881. 
 
 Flanck, H. Das Recht des Lateinischen als wissenschaftlichen Bil- 
 dungsmittel. Stuttgart. Schulprogramm. 1888. 
 
 Schmeding. Die Idassische Bildung in der Gegenwart. Berlin. 1885. 
 
 Frary, E. La Question du Latin. Paris. 1890. 
 
 JTames, Professor Edmund J. The Classical Question in Germany. 
 Popular Science Monthly. January, 1884. 
 
 Barnett, P. A. Common Sense in Education and Teaching. Chapter 
 viii. London and New York. Longmans, Green, & Co. 1899. 
 
 Jebb, K. C. Humanism in Education. (Romanes Lecture for 1899.) 
 London. Macmillan & Co. 1899. 
 
 Eliot, C. W. American Contributions to Civilization. New York. 
 The Century Co. 1897. 
 
 Sidgwick, Henry. Theory of Classical Education, in his Miscellaneous 
 Essays and Addresses. London. 1904. 
 
 The question as to the educational worth of any study 
 must always be a pertinent one. This is particularly 
 true in the case of Latin, which has not only The Question 
 for generations occupied a commanding place ^^'"^ "*• 
 in the curriculum of American secondary education, but 
 in recent years has even been winning enormously in- 
 creased favour among us. Despite the extensive litera- 
 ture on the subject, it has seemed necessary, at the 
 beginning of this volume on the teaching of Latin in the 
 secondary school, to examine afresh the title of Latin 
 to the present respect it enjoys, and to state anew the 
 reasons why it is of value in secondary education. Lest 
 there be any misconception as to the subject of the 
 chapter, it is desirable to emphasize at the outset that 
 the value of Latin as a college study does not here enter 
 into consideration. That question, interesting and im- 
 portant as it is, seems to me entirely distinct from the 
 question as to the value of Latin in the secondary school. 
 
 The fundamental importance of the examination pro- 
 posed hardly needs to be urged. For obviously the 
 general method of instruction to be followed in teach- 
 ing Latin must depend largely upon the results that 
 
8 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 the study is capable of achieving, and the teacher who 
 fails clearly to apprehend the goal to be attained must 
 necessarily pursue but a groping course in imparting 
 instruction. The recent increase, too, in the number of 
 pupils studying Latin in our secondary schools makes 
 it of increasing importance to get clearly before our 
 minds the functions and purpose of the study. The 
 Statistics of the Commissioner of Education for the 
 United States show that in the eight years prior to 1 898 
 the number of pupils studying Latin in our secondary 
 schools had increased 174 per cent, while the total en- 
 rolment of pupils in the secondary schools for the same 
 period had increased but 84 per cent. In the eight years 
 from 1898-1906 also the increase in the number of Latin 
 students more than kept pace with the increase in 
 school attendance. No thoughtful person can fail to be 
 impressed by these figures. If Latin is not of basal 
 importance in the secondary curriculum, then large num- 
 bers of students are making a prodigious error in pur- 
 suing the subject; and the sooner we understand this, 
 the better. If, on the other hand, the increase is the 
 result of wise choice or even of wise instinct, we must, 
 while rejoicing at the greater recognition Latin is secur- 
 ing, at the same time admit our own vastly increased 
 responsibility for its wise direction and promotion. 
 
 Before considering the special reasons that exist in 
 favor of studying Latin, let us first consider the function 
 
 of language in general as an instrument of 
 Educational j ■ 
 
 Function of education. 
 
 ^^^^^^ The function of education is confessedly 
 
 to prepare pupils to be useful members of 
 
 society. To make them such, it is essential that they be 
 
 taught to understand as fully as possible the nature and 
 
 character of the national life — social, civil, political, 
 
 religious — in which they are born or in which their lot 
 
THE JUSTIFICA TION OF LA TIN 9 
 
 is cast. To a certain extent, also, it is essential that 
 they learn to apprehend the nature and character of the 
 larger life of the race. 
 
 What now is the instrument best adapted to the 
 attainment of this end? It is language. As pointed 
 out by Laurie {^Lectures on Language and Linguistic 
 Method, chapter i.), language is the supreme instru- 
 ment in education, i. e. the higher education, because 
 of its universal nature. It promotes intellectual dis- 
 cipline and brings intellectual power, because the study 
 of language brings us at every turn face to face, as 
 nothing else does, with subjects and questions of in- 
 tellectual concern and intellectual interest. Language 
 deals with ideas, it touches perpetually on problems of 
 the relations of man to man, of man to society, of man 
 to the State. Its analysis demands refinement and 
 nicety of thinking. So long then as ideas are impor- 
 tant, and so long as the underlying conceptions which 
 reflect the national life of a people are important, the 
 supreme value of the mastery of these through language 
 study will continue to be recognised. 
 
 By the study of language is meant the study of one's 
 own language ; but, as will be pointed out later in this 
 chapter, this study of one's own language is achieved 
 incomparably better by the indirect method of studying 
 another language. Only so can the necessary processes 
 of comparison be effectively instituted. To this it has 
 often been objected that the Greeks, so con- significance 
 spicuous for their brilliant civilization and ^^*^''*f'g'=' 
 their permanent contributions to the intel- study by 
 lectual life of subsequent ages, studied no *^ ®"''''- 
 language but their own. An excited partisan,^ in the 
 heat of discussion, once went so far as to assert, " Grant- 
 
 1 Professor E. L. Youmans in the Popular Science Monthly foi 
 December, 1883, p. 270, b. 
 
lO THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 ing the unapproachable perfection of Greek literature, 
 and that the Greeks surpassed the world in philo- 
 sophical acuteness, the invincible fact remains that they 
 expended no effort in the study of foreign languages, 
 and common sense declares it was because of it." Obvi- 
 ously, if " common sense " declared anything so absurd, 
 it should explain to us why the Hottentots or the Eski- 
 mos or the hordes of other barbarians who likewise 
 know no language but their own, have not been similarly 
 eminent for their contributions to human thought. 
 
 As to the Greeks, it will probably always be impos- 
 sible to account for the achievements of that wonderful 
 people on the basis of their system of education. What 
 they accomplished seems rather the result of an inex- 
 plicable national endowment. Their fine aesthetic sense, 
 their keen speculative capacity, are as difficult to ac- 
 count for as the unique genius of the Romans for 
 political organization, for government, and for law, or 
 the profound sense of moral obligation to a higher 
 power so impressively formulated by the Hebrews, — 
 as difficult to explain as the rise of a Charlemagne in 
 the eighth century or an Alfred in the ninth. Great as 
 the Greeks were by endowment, they certainly were not 
 great for their attainments. With all their highly devel- 
 oped aesthetic sense and their subtle speculative acu- 
 men, they were manifestly deficient in the capacities 
 which it is the function of modern education to develop, 
 namely, a just understanding of the problems of society, 
 an understanding which shall secure and promote the 
 stability of the social and political organism. Had the 
 Greeks been as well educated as they were highly gifted, 
 it is likely that their own national life would have run a 
 longer and a more glorious course, and that their great 
 legacy to posterity would thus have been immensely 
 increased. 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN II 
 
 At all events, the fact that the Greeks, despite their 
 neglect of language study, nevertheless attained a cer- 
 tain national greatness in some directions, cannot be 
 cited as disproving the educative value of such study 
 for us to-day. 
 
 What, now, are the reasons for studying Latin in the 
 secondary school? What are the effects of the study 
 upon the pupil that are at present so potent Reasons for 
 not merely in maintaining its status but in studying 
 extending its vogue? These reasons are 
 several, and I shall enumerate them in what seems to 
 me the order of their importance. 
 
 First and foremost, I should say Latin is of value be- 
 cause it confers a mastery over the resources of one's 
 mother tongue.^ This mastery comes as the direct and 
 necessary result of careful daily translation, — a process 
 involving on the one hand a careful consid- Trainine 
 eration and analysis of the thought of the in the 
 author read, and on the other a severe and 
 laborious comparison of the value of alternative Eng- 
 lish words, phrases, and sentences, with the consequent 
 attainment of skill in making the same effective as 
 vehicles of expression. No one, I think, will undertake 
 to deny that the results here claimed are actual ; and it 
 actual, it can hardly be denied that they constitute an 
 important justification for the study of Latin. 
 
 Training in English, then, as the result of careful 
 translation from Latin is here set down as the first and 
 most important reason for studying Latin. To my own 
 mind this reason weighs more than all others combined, 
 
 1 This is not meant in the narrow sense of a. mere understanding of 
 the nieanins;s of words ; it is the mastery of ideas of which words are but 
 the symbols, and the assimilation of these into one's own intellectual 
 life, that I have in mind. 
 
12 ' THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 though several other excellent reasons for the study of 
 Latin will be discussed later. Let us examine more in 
 Analysis of detail how translation from Latin gives such 
 the Process, admirable training in English. Translation 
 is a severe exercise. The lexicon or vocabulary tells 
 the meanings of words, and the grammar states the 
 force of inflected forms ; but it is only after the pupil, 
 provided with this equipment, has attacked his Latin 
 sentence with a view to translation that the real struggle 
 begins. His vocabulary may have given him a dozen 
 or even twenty meanings under a single verb or noun, 
 and the pupil must reflect and nicely discriminate be- 
 fore he can choose the right word, the one just suited 
 to the context. Further, his Latin sentence may be 
 long, complex, and periodic, entirely different in struc- 
 ture from anything we know in English ; such a sentence 
 must be broken up and so arranged as to conform to 
 our English mode of expression ; or the Latin sentence 
 may have one of those Protean ablative absolutes, — an 
 idiom that our English style practically abhors. Every 
 such ablative absolute has to be examined with care 
 prior to an English rendering. It may express time, 
 cause, concession, condition, attendant circumstance, 
 means, or what not, and must be rendered accordingly. 
 Again the Latin sentence may secure by its arrange- 
 ment of words certain effects of emphasis which English 
 can bring out only by the employment of very different 
 resources. 
 
 For the purpose of further illustration, let us take the 
 opening lines of Nepos's life of Miltiades, and note the 
 problems that suggest themselves to the pupil's mind as 
 he endeavours to secure a passable translation for the 
 Latin. The text runs as follows: Miltiades, Cimonis 
 filius, Atheniensis, cum et antiquitate generis et gloria 
 majorum et sua modestia unus omnium maxime floreret. 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 1 3 
 
 eaque esset aetata ut non jam solum de eo bene sperare, 
 sed etiam confidere cives possent sui talem eum futurum 
 qualem cognitum judicarunt, accidit ut Athenienses Cher- 
 sonesum. colonos vellent mittere. 
 
 Probably the first stumbling-block to the pupil will 
 be the proper rendering for modestia. The vocabulary- 
 gives ' moderation,' ' modesty,' ' temperance,' ' humility,' 
 ' discretion,' and the question is, which one of these 
 represents the idea that Nepos is trying to convey. 
 The pupil has to pause and consider. Reflection shows 
 that ' humility ' will not do, and ' modesty ' is no better. 
 These qualities hardly constitute a title to eminence. 
 The pupil, therefore, turns to ' moderation ' or ' tem- 
 perance.' The latter of these will hardly answer his 
 purpose; it has an unfortunate acquired connotation 
 suggesting predominantly an abstinence from strong 
 drink. Nor will 'moderation' satisfy the pupil's sense of 
 the demands of his native tongue, for we hardly speak of 
 a man eminent for his moderation. Of the five words 
 given for modestia, therefore, the last only, ' discretion,' 
 will answer in the present passage. The pupil then 
 passes to the following words : unus omnium m,axime. 
 Their literal translation is easy, ' alone of all especially; ' 
 but this is jargon, and clearly must be bettered in some 
 way. By reflection, the pupil comes to see that ' alone 
 of all ' may be rendered by our ' beyond all others,' or 
 some other equally idiomatic phrase. But here a new 
 problem presents itself, how to join ' especially ' with 
 ' beyond all others.' Possibly after a few trials the boy 
 hits upon the device of rendering ' far beyond all others.' 
 Whether this phrase or another be chosen, however, 
 may depend somewhat upon the rendering selected for 
 floreret ; in fact at each point in a translation the ren- 
 dering must be regarded as possibly only temporary; 
 one's selection of words and phrases will often require 
 
14 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 modification as a result of the rendering chosen for 
 other parts of the same sentence. The pupil meets no 
 further special difficulty until he comes to qualem cog- 
 nitmn judicarunt. Literally, ' such as they judged him 
 known.' In and of itself, the participle may mean ' if 
 known,' ' though known,' ' when known,' * since known.' 
 All these possibilities, however, must be weighed be- 
 fore a safe decision can be reached as to the actual 
 meaning here. 
 
 But I need not dwell further on the details of the 
 process we are considering. Every teacher knows what 
 it is ; he knows that it is serious work, often slow work, 
 but he knows what it means to the pupil who submits to 
 it. He knows that such a pupil is gaining a mastery over 
 the resources of his mother tongue. Positive knowledge, 
 except to a very limited degree, he is not gaining ; but 
 he is learning what words mean ; he is learning to dif- 
 ferentiate related concepts ; he is acquiring sense for 
 form and style^ and if he be so fortunate as to be en- 
 dowed with any native gifts of thought himself when he 
 reaches maturer years, he has that indispensable equip- 
 ment of the educated man, — the capacity to say what 
 he says with directness, clearness, precision, and effect. 
 
 There has been a great outcry in recent years about 
 the importance of EngHsh, and it has been one with 
 which I think the body of thoughtful men have in large 
 measure sympathized. All have cheerfully acknowl- 
 edged the great importance of an ability to use one's 
 native idiom with skill and power. It is because I sym- 
 pathize so heartily with this sentiment that I enter this 
 defence of translation. It is because translation from ^ 
 Latin to English seems to me such a stimulating, vitaliz- 
 ing exercise, and so helpful to the student who would 
 attain mastery of his own language, — it is because of 
 this that I find full justification for the study of Latin. 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 1 5 
 
 Perhaps I approach this subject with prejudice, but I 
 can never forget the inspiration of my own early Latin 
 training, nor ever fail in gratitude to the teacher who 
 first suggested to me the boundless resources of our 
 own language, who by his own happy and faithful ren- 
 derings of Cicero and Virgil stimulated a little class of 
 us to do our best to make our own translations show 
 truth, and strength, and literary form. Can we afford to 
 underrate the value of such discipline? How many a 
 lad has felt his heart kindle and his ambition rise at 
 some happy rendering by mate or teacher? And with 
 what persistence these little niceties of phrase cling to 
 us and influence us? Language is subtle. We cannot 
 explain its charm by any philosophy. But it is the key 
 to literature, and our own language must ever be the 
 best key to our own literature. 
 
 How finely Barrie has put this in his story of Tommy ! 
 Who that has read that unique description of the 
 essay-contest can have done so without feeling the 
 profound truth it contains? You remember the scene 
 in the old Scotch school-house, — how Tommy and 
 young McLauchlan had been given paper and pen and 
 set to work to write on " A Day in Church " in compe- 
 tition for the Blackadder Prize, and how at the end of 
 the time allotted Tommy had brought himself to scorn 
 for the lack of a word. " What word ? " they asked 
 him testily ; but even now he could not tell. He had 
 wanted a Scotch word that would signify how many 
 people were in church and it was on the tip of his 
 tongue, but would come no farther. " Puckle " was nearly 
 the word, but it did not mean so many people as he 
 meant. The hour had gone by like winking; he had 
 forgotten all about time while searching his mind for 
 the word. 
 
 Then the friends who had been waiting in confident 
 
1 6 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 expectation of Tommy's victory begin their reproaches. 
 His teacher, Cathro, is the first. " What ailed you at 
 ■manzy'?"hecries, "or" — . "I thought of 'manzy,'" 
 replied Tommy, wofully, for he was ashamed of himself, 
 "but — but a manzy 's a swarm. It would mean that 
 the folk in the kirk were buzzing thegither like bees, 
 instead of sitting still." 
 
 " Even if it does mean that," says another friend, 
 " what was the sense of being so particular? Surely the 
 art of essay-writing consists in using the first word that 
 comes and hurrying on." 
 
 " That 's how I did," proudly says McLauchlan, the 
 victorious competitor. 
 
 " I see," interposes another friend, " that McLauchlan 
 speaks of there being a mask of people in the church. 
 ' Mask ' is a fine Scotch word.". 
 
 " I thought of ' mask,' " says Tommy, " but that would 
 have meant the kirk was crammed, and I just meant it 
 to be middling full." 
 
 " 'Flow' would have done," suggested another. 
 
 " ' Flow' 's but a handful." 
 
 " ' Curran,' then, you jackanapes." 
 
 " ' Curran' 's no enough." 
 
 The friends throw up their hands in despair. 
 
 "I wanted something between 'curran' and ' mask,'" 
 said Tommy, dogged, yet almost at the crying. 
 
 Then Ogilvy, the master of the victorious McLauchlan, 
 but whose heart is secretly with Tommy, and who with 
 difficulty has been hiding his admiration, spreads a n»t 
 for him. " You said you wanted a word that meant 
 middling full. Well, why did you not say ' middling full' 
 or ' fell mask ' ? " 
 
 " Yes, why not? " demanded the others. 
 
 " I wanted one word," said Tommy. 
 
 " You jewel," muttered Ogilvy under his breath. 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN I? 
 
 " It 's so easy to find the right word," reproachfully 
 adds another. 
 
 " It's no', it 's as difficult as to hit a squirrel." Again 
 Ogilvy nods approval. But Cathro, Tommy's master, 
 can restrain himself no longer. In a burst of fury he 
 seizes Tommy by the neck and runs him out of the 
 parish school of Thrums. As the others offer their con- 
 gratulations to Ogilvy, master of the victorious Mc- 
 Lauchlan, the school door opens from without, and the 
 face of Tommy, tear-stained and excited, appears once 
 more. " I ken the word now; it came to me a' at once ; 
 it is ' hantle.' " 
 
 " Oh, the sumph ! " exclaimed McLauchlan ; " as if it 
 mattered what the word is now." 
 
 But Ogilvy gives his McLauchlan a push that nearly 
 sends him sprawling, saying in an ecstasy to himself: 
 " He ^a^to think of it till he got it; and he got it." 
 
 When Cathro savagely says, " I have one satisfaction ; 
 I ran him out of my school," Ogilvy merely answers, 
 " Who knows but what you may be proud to dust a 
 chair for him when he comes back ? " 
 
 How many of us know well this quest for the right 
 word ! How often we have struggled to find it when it 
 was n't ' puckle ' and it was n't ' manzy,' nor ' mask,' nor 
 ' flow,' nor ' curran/ but ' hantle ' ! Sometimes we have 
 found it, sometimes we have missed it; but the quest 
 has ever been honourable, and has helped us to find and 
 know the way to truth. 
 
 Cicero was well aware of the importance of what I am 
 urging when he wrote those memorable words in his 
 </<? Optimo genere oratorum. Despite his thor- cicero's 
 ough familiarity with Greek, he confesses that Testimony, 
 he found it a useful exercise to translate with care from 
 Greek to Latin. In this way he prepared Latin versions 
 of Demosthenes on the Crown and of Aeschines against 
 
1 8 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 Ctesiphon, not rendering word for word, but preserving 
 the style and spirit of these two orationes nobilissiinae, 
 weighing their words, he adds, not counting them. 
 
 Compare also what Lowell says. Speaking before the 
 
 Modern Language Association in 1889, after a life of wide 
 
 observation and careful reflection upon the 
 
 Lowell. 
 
 problems of education, he says : " In reading 
 such books as chiefly deserve to be read in any foreign 
 language, it is wise to translate consciously and in words 
 as we read. There is no such help to a fuller mastery 
 of our vernacular. It compels us to such a choosing, 
 and testing, to so nice a discrimination of sound, pro- 
 priety, position, and shade of meaning, that we now first 
 learn the secret of the words we have been using or mis- 
 using all our lives, and are gradually made aware that 
 to set forth even the plainest matter as it should be 
 set forth is not only a very difficult thing, caUing for 
 thought and practice, but is an affair of conscience as 
 well. Translation teaches, as nothing else can, not only 
 that there is a best way, but that it is the only way. 
 Those who have tried it know too well how easy it is to 
 grasp the verbal meaning of a sentence or of a verse. 
 That is the bird in the hand. The real meaning, the 
 soul of it, that which makes it literature and not jargon, 
 that is the bird in the bush, which tantalizes and stimu- 
 lates with the vanishing glimpses we catch of it as it flits 
 from one to another lurking-place : 
 
 Et fugit ad salices et se cupit ante videri. 
 
 Lowell may not have been a great teacher. His limi- 
 tations in the class-room were - probably very pro- 
 nounced, but that, for all that, he possessed by nature 
 and training a clear sense for what is vital and strength- 
 ening in education, I am thoroughly persuaded. At all 
 events, the words I have quoted are the ones I have 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OP LATIN 19 
 
 always heard commended when mention has been made 
 of the address in which they are found. 
 
 This transcendent importance of translation as bear- 
 ing upon an increased mastery of one's vernacular is so 
 generally recognised by educators that it seems worth 
 while to cite a few further similar expressions of opinion 
 as to its value. Thus we find Dettweiler de- ,, ,^^ „ 
 daring (Baumeister's Handbuch der Erzie- 
 hungs-und Unterrichtslehre,iii. Lateinisck,^. 22): "We 
 must not forget that the real strength of Latin instruc- 
 tion lies in the recognition of the wide difference of 
 ideas, which is brought out in the choice of words and 
 phrases as one translates from Latin to German. . . . 
 These ends we must reach ... by « constant comparu 
 son with the mother tongue} through the medium of a 
 fmich more extensive employment of translation ^ than 
 has heretofore prevailed." At a later point (pp. 54 ff.) 
 Dettweiler dwells more fully upon this topic. After 
 enumerating a number of special principles to be ob- 
 served in translation, he goes on to say : " The proper 
 treatment of these and many other points may exercise 
 an absolutely enormous influence upon the pupil's 
 German style. The Latin language in its means and 
 modes of expression is so remote from our own, that 
 the form of translation demands the exercise of a 
 stylistic power the application of which to the pupil 
 must in future constitute one of the noblest tasks of 
 the teachers in our Gymnasien. The experience of 
 other countries which is often cited with approval may 
 be utilized in Germany too. In France and Belgium 
 
 1 The italics are Dettweiler's, i. e. they correspond to the spaced type 
 of the German. 
 
 2 It is noteworthy that the revised courses of study for the Prussian 
 gymnasia promulgated in 1892 call for increased attention to translation 
 from Latin into German. 
 
20 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 translations from Latin are regarded as an admirable 
 exercise in expression. In England the superior style 
 of the gentry is ascribed to extensive practice in trans- 
 lating, and it is well known how Cicero [see above, 
 p. 17], that supreme stylist, formed his style by practis- 
 ing translation from the Greek. 'Translation from a 
 foreign language,' says one of our most experienced 
 school officials, ' is a lesson in German that cannot be 
 too highly prized, and is, alas ! too much neglected. 
 By a good translation, one conforming to the genius 
 of the German language, instruction in German is most 
 effectively promoted.' " To a similar effect are the 
 remarks of Isaac B. Burgess and W. C. Collar as given 
 in the Proceedings of the National Educational Asso- 
 ciation, 1896, pp. 563 ff. ; also those of Laurie, Lectures 
 on Language and Linguistic Method, p. 108; Paton, 
 in Spencer's Aims and Practice of Teaching, p. 61 ; 
 Shorey, " Discipline vs. Dissipation," in The School Re- 
 view, 1897, p. 228: " Every hour spent by the student 
 in improving the accuracy or elegance of his version is, 
 apart from its practical service in mobilizing his English 
 vocabulary, an unconscious philosophic discipline in 
 the comparison of two sets of conceptual symbols and 
 the measuring against each other of two parallel intel- 
 lectual outgrowths of fhe one sensational root of all 
 our knowledge. Every time the student is corrected 
 for washing 9ut in his translation some poetic image 
 found in the original, he receives a lesson in the relation 
 of the symbolizing imagination to thought. As often 
 as he discusses with the teacher a word for which no 
 apt English equivalent can be found, he acquires a new 
 concept and a finer conception of nice distinctions. 
 Whenever an apparently grotesque or senseless expres- 
 sion is elucidated by reference to the primitive or alien 
 religious or ethical conception or institution that gives 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 21 
 
 it meaning, he receives a simple, safe, and concrete 
 lesson in comparative religion, ethics, folk-lore, anthro- 
 pology, or institutional history; as the case may be. 
 And as often as he is forced to reconsider, in the light 
 of the context, the mechanically memorized meaning 
 of a word or phrase, he has impressed upon his mind 
 the truth which the student of the more rigid working 
 formulas of the physical sciences is so apt to miss, that 
 words are not unalterable talismans, but chameleon-hued 
 symbols taking shape and color from their associates. 
 The effect of this kind of discipline is unconscious, 
 insensible, and cumulative. It cannot, of course, cancel 
 the inequalities of natural parts; it cannot take the 
 place of practical acquaintance with life and accurate 
 knowledge of a special trade or profession. But pur- 
 sued systematically through the plastic years of youth, 
 it differentiates the mind subjected to it by a flexibility, 
 delicacy, and nicety of intellectual perception which 
 no other merely scholastic and class-room training can 
 give in like measure." 
 
 The English training derived from such careful trans- 
 lation as above described seems to me greatly superior 
 to that gained by the usual methods of Eng<- Translation 
 lish composition. Original composition must fs- original 
 necessarily deal only with the ideas already """^ ""■ 
 present in the pupil's mind. How elementary and 
 crude these are in case of the pupils in our secondary 
 schools, is a fact sufficiently familiar to us all. The 
 reflective period has not usually begun at the age when 
 the pupil enters upon the secondary education; he 
 finds it difficult to write an English theme because he 
 has nothing to write about. But set before him a pas- 
 sage of Latin, elevated in thought and well expressed, 
 with the problem of putting this into the best English 
 
22 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 he can command ; in the first place he is relieved of 
 the necessity of hunting aimlessly about for ideas which 
 do not exist in his brain ; and in the second place he 
 is raised above the plane of his ordinary thinking, and 
 in this higher atmosphere grows familiar with concepts 
 and ideas which might otherwise long remain foreign 
 or at least vague to him. All things considered, I do 
 not hesitate to say that I believe there is a considerable 
 period in the secondary training when Latin translation, 
 if rightly conducted, may wisely be made practically 
 the exclusive instrument of special instruction in English 
 composition. This view, too, I find, is shared by many. 
 See the discussions in the Proceedings of the National 
 Educational Association, 1896, p. 563 ff., especially 
 p. S/O- Probably no teacher who has ever system- 
 atically instituted this experiment of written translations 
 has failed to regard the time it demanded as wisely 
 expended. 
 
 I have said above that this training in English seemed 
 to me to form a larger part of the advantages of Latin 
 other Effects Study than all others together. Yet the other 
 ofutin. advantages are by no means insignificant. 
 They are now to be considered. 
 
 Discussing with his usual sober thoughtfulness and 
 lucidity of exposition the question : Wherein Popular 
 Education has Failed,i President Eliot lays down the 
 four essential educational processes which should be 
 involved in any rational and effective system of in- 
 struction. These are: 
 
 I. The process of "observation; that is to say, the 
 alert, intent, and accurate use of all the senses. Who- 
 ever wishes to ascertain a present fact must do it 
 through the exercise of this power of observation. . . . 
 
 1 American Contributions to Civilization, p. 203 i 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 23 
 
 Facts, diligently sought for and firmly established, are 
 the only foundations of sound reasoning." 
 
 2. " The next function, process, or operation which 
 education should develop in the individual is the func- 
 tion of making a correct record of things observed. 
 The record may be mental only, that is, stamped on 
 the memory, or it may be reduced to writing or print. 
 . . . This power of accurate description or recording is 
 identical in all fields of inquiry." 
 
 3. " The next mental function which education should 
 develop, if it is to increase reasoning power and general 
 intelligence, is the faculty of drawing correct inferences 
 from recorded observations. This faculty is almost 
 identical with the faculty of grouping or coordinating 
 kindred facts, comparing one group with another or 
 with all the others, and then drawing an inference 
 which is sure in proportion to the number of cases, 
 instances, or experiences on which it is based. This 
 power is developed by practice in induction." 
 
 4. " Fourthly, education should cultivate the power 
 of expressing one's thoughts clearly, concisely, and 
 cogently." 
 
 These, according to President Eliot, are the four 
 essential processes of the educated mind : observing 
 accurately; recording correctly; comparing, grouping, 
 and inferring justly; and expressing the result of these 
 operations with clearness and force. 
 
 Now it is precisely these four processes or operations 
 which the study of Latin, when well taught, promotes 
 in an eminent degree : 
 
 I The study of Latin trains the observing faculty. 
 
 To fathom the meaning of a Latin sentence requires a 
 
 whole series of accurate observations. Thus 
 
 , . Ohservation, 
 
 the pupil sees the word egissent m a sentence ; 
 
 he observes that the word is a form of ago ; he takes 
 
24 THE JUSTIFICA TION OF LA TIN 
 
 note of the voice, mood, tense, person, and number; 
 he observes its position ; he may make other observa- 
 tions. Or he is reading poetry and comes to the hne, 
 Si qua fata sinant, jam turn tenditque fovetque. The 
 second word puzzles him at first; to the eye, it may 
 be either a nominative plural neuter or an ablative 
 singular feminine used adverbially. Observation (scan- 
 sion of the line) teaches him that the latter conclusion 
 is the true one. 
 
 2. Little of this observation is recorded in speech or 
 
 writing in the preparation of a lesson, but it is recorded 
 
 -mentally, which according to President Eliot 
 Recording. . . , , -n t i 
 
 IS entirely adequate. Moreover the process 
 
 is constant. It is necessarily so. No lesson in a Latin 
 
 author can be adequately prepared without sustained 
 
 and repeated observing and recording from beginning 
 
 to end. 
 
 3. The study also necessitates the most thorough and 
 rigid processes of reasoning. The pupil has observed that 
 
 a certain word is in the dative case, or in the 
 subjunctive mood, and has made also a mental 
 record of the fact. He now proceeds to determine the 
 relationship of the dative or subjunctive to other words 
 in the sentence. This demands as severe an exercise of 
 the reasoning powers as anything I know. The first 
 combination the pupil tries may be found to be gram- 
 matically impossible; it offends against his conscious- 
 ness of linguistic usage. Or it may be grammatically 
 correct and yet be flatly absurd in point of meaning. 
 Or it may make only a half satisfactory sense, some- 
 what inconsistent with the context. Every conscious 
 endeavour, however^, rightly to combine and accurately 
 to interpret the words, phrases, sentences, and para- 
 graphs of any passage of a Latin author is an exercise 
 of the reason. It is not, to be sure, an exercise of the 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 25 
 
 kind expressly mentioned by President Eliot in his al- 
 lusions to the process of reasoning as one of the indis- 
 pensable results of a rational education. He 
 mentions only inductive processes as entitled me only 
 
 to recognition in this sphere, and by impli- ^"^^ "* 
 
 ° ^ ' ■' •■ Reasoning, 
 
 cation excludes all recognition of deductive 
 
 reasoning. This seems to me extremely unfortunate 
 and unjust. Both processes are legitimate in education ; 
 neither is to be disparaged. President Eliot's position 
 seems to be that only the inductive reasoning of the 
 observational sciences is reasoning properly so-called. 
 Yet of the popular fallacies and delusions which Presi- 
 dent Eliot enumerates (p. 224 f.), and which he justly 
 deplores, few, when evaded by intelligent and educated 
 men, are evaded by processes of inductive reasoning. 
 How many of the intelligent men who opposed the free- 
 silver heresy in this country in 1896 did so as the result 
 of inductive reasoning? Any such reasoning faintly 
 deserving the name would be simply impossible for the 
 average educated man. The process by which opinions 
 must be formed by most men on such matters is one 
 of deductive reasoning. Only the specialist can reason 
 inductively on such great questions, where honest settle- 
 ment by inductive processes demands almost infinite 
 time and pains, not to speak of special training. The 
 minds of the great majority of thoughtful men must 
 work otherwise. Faith in the honesty, intelligence, and 
 patriotism of others is probably the major premise in 
 the minds of most of us in determining our attitude on 
 large questions. The minor premise is the view of some 
 earnest, trained, and sagacious statesman or student of 
 affairs in whom we trust. Our conclusion, therefore, 
 represents the view of another person, logically made 
 our own by deductive process. Oftener perhaps our 
 own views on such matters are formed as a result of 
 
26 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 comparing the views of many others rather than by 
 adopting the view of any individual. In such cases we 
 adopt the preponderance of authority or the preponder- 
 ance of evidence furnished by others and assumed by 
 us to be fairly complete. But the process is still deduc- 
 tive. So in most of the serious things of life : our choice 
 of a vocation, our preparation for its duties, our diet 
 and recreation, the education of our children, our social, 
 religious, and political affiliations, — all these must of 
 necessity be determined by deductive processes of rea- 
 son, so far as they are determined by reason at all. I 
 cannot help thinking, therefore, that President Eliot at- 
 tributes too important an educational function to pro- 
 cesses of inductive reasoning, and allows such processes 
 a much larger play than they can, under any conceiv- 
 able conditions, ever have in the practical life of any 
 individual. At all events, I think it proper to insist on 
 a recognition of the part which deductive reasoning 
 must always play in nine tenths of the lives of the most 
 conscientious of us, and to urge this fact as of impor- 
 tance in estimating rightly the value of the deductive 
 reasoning so inevitably associated with the study of 
 Latin and other languages. 
 
 4. Lastly, the study of Latin involves in translation 
 constant practice in expressing the results of one's ob- 
 serving, recording, and reasoning. Whether 
 Expression. , . , , . , 
 
 this be clear, concise, and cogent, as Presi- 
 dent Eliot would have it, is a matter entirely within the 
 power of the teacher to determine. But I am confident 
 that no teacher fit to be intrusted with giving Latin 
 instruction, or in fact any instruction, will neglect this 
 most important and crowning feature of Latin study. 
 
 Latin, then, would seem fairly to fulfil all the important 
 functions demanded by President Eliot as essential in a 
 rational system of teaching. Yet he himself is inclined 
 
THE J US TI PICA TION OF LA TIN 2^ 
 
 to look askance at the present predominance of Latin 
 and other language studies in the curricula of our sec- 
 ondary schools. Though not specifically declaring it, he 
 impUes his distrust in the efficacy of language study to 
 achieve any of the results which must be admitted by 
 all to be so eminently important. 
 
 To me all these results seem to flow of necessity from 
 the study of Latin. Even with poor teaching, observ- 
 ing, recording, reasoning, and expressing are necessary 
 daily processes of the pupil's intellectual life. This may 
 explain why even poor Latin teaching often seems to 
 have an educative influence. Where the teaching is of 
 first-rate quality, the processes referred to are naturally 
 given an accuracy, a power, and clearness of form, which 
 cannot fail to prove of the highest educative power. 
 
 It is, of course, manifest that the foregoing arguments 
 in favour of studying Latin, if valid, apply at least in 
 some measure to other languages than Latin, ^^^^ ^^ 
 and many persons doubtless will be inclined Modern 
 to advocate the advantages of French or Ger- '■^snages. 
 man, as superior to those of Latin. While not denying 
 the usefulness of both those languages when taught with 
 discrimination, yet, if one language only catt be studied, 
 I see two reasons for giving Latin a decided preference 
 to either French or German. In the first place the 
 concepts and ideas of the Latin language are much 
 remoter from those of English than are those of the 
 modern languages. All modern thought is essentially 
 kindred. The same intellectual elements, so to speak, 
 are common to all civilized nations, — particularly to 
 . nations so closely in touch as the English, French, and 
 German. This is not true when we come to study 
 either of the ancient languages. The ultimate elements 
 of the thought, i. e. the language of the Greeks and 
 Romans, are as different from our own as is their entire 
 
28 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 civilization. It is precisely this fundamental difference 
 which makes either of the classical languages of such 
 invaluable discipHne. At every stage of study we are 
 brought in contact with new phases of thought, new 
 ideas ; — the intellectual horizon is continually widen- 
 ing. The modern languages, on the other hand, suggest 
 relatively much less that is new. Both the matter and 
 the manner of expression are so directly in the line 
 of our ordinary knowledge and speech, as to give much 
 less occasion to processes of comparison or to that 
 stimulating intellectual grapple which is essential to 
 mental growth. This is particularly true of French, 
 whose thought-forms are so closely kindred to our own. 
 It is less true of German, though even that language 
 suggests vastly fewer differences in ideas — and con- 
 sequently vastly fewer opportunities for comparison — 
 than does eitheV Greek or Latin. 
 
 There is yet another reason which I should urge in 
 favour of Latin as compared with either of the modern 
 languages, and that is that Latin has supplied us with 
 so large a share of our own vocabulary. Just what the 
 exact percentage of such words in English is, I do not 
 know. Nor is it material. The number, at any rate, 
 is very large, and covers every department of thought. 
 For this reason no educated person can safely under- 
 take to dispense with a knowledge of the root words of 
 the Latin language. I mean no such knowledge as 
 comes from memorizing a list of the commoner roots 
 and suffixes along with their meanings, but a knowledge 
 at first hand, and sufficiently comprehensive and thor- 
 ough to enable one to feel the full significance of the 
 primary words of the Latin, a knowledge which reveals 
 at once the full value of such English words as connota- 
 tion, speciousness, integrity, desultory, temperance, induc- 
 tion, deduction, abstract, ingenuous, absolute, and scores 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 29 
 
 of others whose precise apprehension marks the edu- 
 cated man. This point has been strongly though briefly 
 emphasized by the Commissioner of Education, W. T. 
 Harris, in " A Brief for Latin," Educational Review, 
 April, 1899. See also Paton, in Spencer, Aims and 
 Practice of Teaching, p. 41 f. 
 
 To the two foregoing theoretical reasons for prefer- 
 ring Latin to French or German as an instrument of 
 secondary education, must be added a third reason, 
 more cogent even than those already empha- Testimony of 
 sized, namely, experience. I believe it well Experience, 
 within the limits of accuracy to assert that no one who 
 has had actual experience with the teaching of either 
 of the modern languages to pupils of the same age 
 and intellectual power will for a moment venture to 
 compare the intellectual profit attained from French or 
 German with that derived from Latin. In fact, so far 
 as we have any testimony on this point, there is a strik- 
 ing unanimity of judgment in favour of Latin. Speak- 
 ing at the first annual meeting of the Association of 
 Colleges and Preparatory Schools in the Middle States 
 and Maryland {Proceedings, 1893, p. 59), Principal Mac- 
 kenzie, discussing the question, "Will any kind or 
 amount of instruction in modern languages make them 
 satisfactory substitutes for Greek or Latin as constitu- 
 ents of a liberal education? " said : " Twenty-three years 
 ago, when I was a school-boy at one of our foremost 
 academies, there was no scientific or English ^ course, — 
 no course, that is, without Latin. Those who know the 
 history of that school for the century closing in the 
 seventies, know her brilliant achievements in developing 
 mental power with Latin as the staff of the pupil's 
 
 1 The scientific or English courses regularly omit Latin, and include 
 either French or German, or both French and German. 
 
3o THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 mental life. Meantime, in company with all our fitting 
 schools, she, too, has established an English side with- 
 out Latin. I could give no umbrage nor be chargeable 
 with indelicacy were I to repeat the statements made 
 to me by her teachers as to the unfavourable change in 
 the intellectual tone and character of the institution. 
 There are in this Association an earnest, skilful, experi- 
 enced body of teachers connected with our high-schools 
 and other schools of secondary grade; I have yet to 
 meet one such teacher who, administering courses of 
 study both with and without one or two of the classical 
 languages, does not, however reluctantly, affirm that 
 satisfactory scholarship is found only on the so-called 
 classical side, and that, therefore, no satisfactory sub- 
 stitute for Greek and Latin has yet been found." Sub- 
 sequently President B. L Wheeler, then Professor of 
 Greek at Cornell, declared it his conviction that French 
 and German cannot compare with the classics as effec- 
 tive instruments of secondary education, " simply be- 
 cause they don't.'' These positive assertions based on 
 experience went absolutely unchallenged in the pro- 
 tracted discussion of the question which followed. 
 Compare also the testimony of an English educator, 
 Mr. Paton, in Spencer, Aims and Practice of Teaching, 
 p. 44: "Many argue that French and German would 
 be just as efficient [as Latin], but their contention has 
 never been practically demonstrated." Similar testi- 
 mony comes from Germany, France, and Belgium, to 
 the effect that those boys who have received a classical 
 training are on the whole superior to those who have 
 received a training only in the modern languages 
 (Fouill^e, Education from a National Standpoint, p. 
 167). Fouillee (ibid., footnote) adds: "One of our 
 most eminent critics [Ferdinand Brunetiere], before 
 his connection with the Revue des Deux Mondes, was 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 31 
 
 on the staff of the ficole Normale Sup6rieure, and 
 taught French Hterature to the pupils at the College 
 Chaptal, and at the same time to the mathematical 
 students at the Lycde Louis-le-Grand and the College 
 Sainte-Barbe. At Chaptal almost every boy passed 
 through his hands, as he took each class some time or 
 other during the week, and in this way he knew the 
 boys in six classes, of course of varying ages. Now, 
 says M. Brunetiere, ' I feel, after this experience gained 
 under exceptional conditions, that for opening the mind 
 and for general development, for a knowledge of our 
 own tongue, and for literary skill, the boys who instead 
 of a classical training have received a purely French 
 education, with the addition of modern languages, are 
 at least two and perhaps three years behind their 
 fellows.' At Louis-le-Grand and Sainte-Barbe, M. 
 Brunetiere's pupils had done Latin and Greek grammar 
 only, and had never had a thorough grounding in that, 
 intending to devote themselves at an early period ex- 
 clusively to mathematics. Here again the superiority 
 of even a little classical training was equally marked. 
 These observations,'' adds Fouillee, " agree with my 
 own while I was engaged in teaching.'' Such testimony 
 might be multiplied almost indefinitely. 
 
 From this verdict of experience we can hardly venture 
 to appeal, until experience has new and different contri- 
 butions with which to support the claims of the equality 
 of the modern languages with Latin as educational 
 instruments. The position of those who have advo- 
 cated the equality of French or German on theoretical 
 grounds is well represented by the late Professor 
 Boyesen. In his remarks before the Association of 
 Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle States 
 and Maryland {Proceedings, 1893, p. 38 ff.), he lays 
 stress on the admirable quality of the French and 
 
32 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 German literatures, comparing them favourably with the 
 classical masterpieces. But the training of the second- 
 ary pupil who is studying a foreign language, as was 
 shown above, is primarily linguistic, not literary. Liter- 
 ary study enters in to some extent, to be sure, but the 
 mai7i benefit of the study must come after all from the 
 minute study of the elements of the thought, not from 
 the contemplation of its larger literary aspects. And 
 it is precisely on this hnguistic side that French and 
 German exhibit, as compared with Latin, such a strik- 
 ing lack of adaptation to the ends of a truly liberal 
 training. 
 
 It is for the foregoing reasons that I feel justified in 
 urging the superiority of Latin to either of the modern 
 languages as an educational instrument in our secondary 
 schools. Experience may ultimately prove French and 
 German entitled to relatively greater consideration than 
 we can at present concede to them, though the theo- 
 retical grounds against any such eventual result seem 
 very strong. 
 
 As to Greek, for the pupil of the secondary school I 
 am reluctantly forced to give it a place second to Latin. 
 I do this chiefly because Greek has contributed so much 
 less to our own English vocabulary than has Latin. 
 These estimates of educational values, however, by no 
 means imply that one or even more of the other lan- 
 guages mentioned may not wisely be added to Latin in 
 the secondary school. I most certainly believe that this 
 should be done wherever practicable, and would advo- 
 cate the combination of two languages, as, for example, 
 Latin and Greek, Latin and German, or Latin and 
 French. Latin, however, I should insist upon as the 
 basal study for all pupils of the secondary school who 
 are capable of pursuing it. More than two languages 
 (Latin for four years and Greek, German, or French 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 33 
 
 for three years), I should not suggest for an individual 
 pupil, though I am well aware that the colleges are 
 enforcing demands in this direction. With all the 
 advantages and allurements of language study, I feel that 
 we can easily go too far, and may do damage by neg- 
 lecting other sides of the pupil's intellect. 
 
 I have enlarged sufficiently upon what seem to me 
 the primary ends of Latin study in the secondary 
 school, namely, the power of accurate observation, the. 
 development of the reasoning faculties, and the supe- 
 rior facilities it affisrds for training in our own language, 
 by which, as I explained, is meant not merely the ap- 
 prehension of words, but the assimilation of ideas for 
 which the words are merely symbols. Incidentally, too, 
 we considered the fact that the study of Latin gives 
 us the needed insight into the precise meaning of a vast 
 number of English words derived from Latin, and that, 
 by taking us out of ourselves, the study of Roman life 
 and thought gives us a broader view of the signifi- 
 cance of ideas and institutions, — what Laurie calls 
 the " universal," as opposed to the merely " national " 
 point of view (^Language and Linguistic Method, 
 
 p. 3 f.)- 
 
 There are yet other humanizing influences of the 
 
 study, which, though of less importance, yet deserve to 
 be emphasized. Among these must be reck- Historical 
 oned the positive knowledge of Roman history, Training, 
 thought, and institutions which comes from the study 
 of Latin. No one can get so good a view of the per- 
 sonality of that great organizer Julius Caesar, as the 
 intelligent reader of Caesar's own narrative ; no one can 
 so appreciate the constitution and workings of the 
 Roman republic as the pupil who reads the pages of 
 Sallust's Jugurtha and Catiline or Cicero's Orations 
 and Letters ; no one can so appreciate the one dom- 
 
34 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 inant principle of all Roman civilization,— the power 
 of organization and administration combined with a 
 sense of imperial destiny, — as he who comes face to 
 face with that sentiment in the Latin authors. These 
 are examples merely of the almost infinite suggestive- 
 ness of Latin study along historical and institutional 
 lines ; — not that the study of Latin should or can 
 replace a formal study of Roman history and institu- 
 tions, but it can and should serve to supplement such 
 study. 
 
 I shall venture to emphasize also the value of the 
 training of the aesthetic and moral sense which must 
 jEsthetic come to every mind of ordinary endowment 
 Training. j^y contact with the masterpieces of Latin 
 writing usually read in our secondary schools. Here 
 again I shall quote the words of Professor Shorey (" Dis- 
 cipHne vs. Dissipation," School Review, 1897, p. 228 f.), 
 " This scholastic study of language, through the careful 
 interpretation of selected literary masterpieces, is a 
 totally different thing both from mere gerund-grinding 
 and the acquisition by conversational methods of the 
 courier's polyglot facility. It is essentially a study of 
 literature, — a fact overlooked by those who declaim 
 against language while protesting their devotion to 
 Hterature; and it is the only form in which literature 
 can be taught to young students that offers serious 
 guarantees of the indispensable accompanying disci- 
 pline. It trains the intellect in close association with 
 the sense for beauty and the sense for conduct as no 
 other studies can. . . . The iridescent threads of culti- 
 vated and flexible aesthetic and ethical institutions must 
 be shot through the intellectual warp of the mind at the 
 loom. They cannot be laid on the finished fabric like 
 an external coat of paint. The student who between 
 the years of twelve and twenty has thrilled at the elo- 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 35 
 
 quence of Cicero or Demosthenes, has threaded the 
 mazes of the Platonic dialectic, has laughed with Aris- 
 tophanes, has pored over the picturesque page of Livy, 
 or apprehended the sagacious analysis of Thucydides, 
 has learned to enjoy the curious fehcity of Horace and 
 the supreme elegance and tender melancholy of Virgil, 
 has trembled before the clash of destiny and human 
 will in the drama of ^schylus and Sophocles, has been 
 cradled in the ocean of Homeric song, or attuned his 
 ear to the stately harmonies of Pindar, — the student, I 
 say, who has received this or a like discipline in the 
 great languages and literatures of the world, has insen- 
 sibly acquired the elementary materials, th^ essential 
 methods, and the finer intuitive perceptions of the 
 things of the spirit, on which all more systematic study 
 of the mental and moral sciences must depend." 
 
 We have dwelt sufficiently upon the various reasons 
 for studying Latin in the secondary school. It remains 
 to discuss briefly some of the objections 
 which have been urged against the study at urged against 
 this stage of education.^ ^'^^ 
 
 In.i86i Herbert Spencer published his work on Edu- 
 cation: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical, consisting of a 
 series of four essays which had previously ap- Herbert 
 peared in various English Reviews. I shall not spencer, 
 have the presumption to question the importance and 
 value of these essays as permanent contributions to the 
 discussion of educational problems. Yet with regard to 
 the value of at least one classical language in any adequate 
 scheme of secondary education, Spencer is singularly un- 
 just. The title of the first essay is : " What knowledge 
 is of most worth ? " In discussing this question no at- 
 
 1 It is impracticable here to discuss any utterances except those of a 
 few representative thoughtful students of education. 
 
36 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 tempt at a comparative estimate of the educational 
 value of different studies is instituted. On page 23, 
 Spencer observes : " If we inquire into the real motive 
 for giving boys a classical education, we find it to be 
 simply conformity to public opinion. . . . As the Ori- 
 noco Indian puts on his paint before leaving his hut, 
 not with a view to any direct benefit, but because he 
 would be ashamed to be seen without it, so a boy's 
 drilling in Latin and Greek is insisted on, not because 
 of their intrinsic value, but that he may not be dis- 
 graced by being found ignorant of them." 
 
 This is the sum and substance of Spencer's examina- 
 tion of the worth of the pursuit of either Latin or Greek. 
 The bulk of this first essay, the title of which assumes at 
 least an honest attempt to institute a candid inquiry con- 
 cerning the relative value of different subjects, is devoted 
 to an exposition of the thesis that the study of science is 
 of some worth to some people, — nothing more. Grant- 
 ing for the sake of argument that this thesis is ade- 
 quately established, it by no means follows that other 
 subjects are of less worth or that Latin is of no worth. 
 Herbert Spencer has often, and with great acumen, justly 
 convicted other thinkers of unwarranted assumptions 
 and bad logic, but in the present instance he seems to 
 cap the climax in his absolute begging of the question 
 at issue. The value of Latin can never be proved or 
 disproved by discussing the value of something else, nor 
 can it be proved or disproved by passionate declarations 
 of its worth or worthlessness. Spencer unfortunately 
 has not attempted to go beyond these methods ; and it 
 is doubly unfortunate that this attitude has been as- 
 sumed by a thinker who usually exhibits such excep- 
 tional seriousness, candour, and intellectual integrity, and 
 the influence of whose utterances must inevitably be so 
 great. 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 37 
 
 Much more commendable is the procedure of Alex- 
 ander Bain in Education as a Science (London and 
 New York, 1881). In chapter x., "Value 
 of the Classics," Bain seriously undertakes 
 to estimate the worth of Latin and Greek. Unfortu- 
 nately he does not limit the question to any period 
 of education, nor does he seem to recognise that the 
 question of the study of Latin alone is a radically differ- 
 ent question from the study of Latin and Greek. His 
 discussion, however, is one that commands our attention. 
 Bain first sets forth the alleged advantages of studying 
 the classics, and then the drawbacks. His conclusion is 
 that the latter decidedly outweigh the former. It is 
 impossible here to take up his arguments in detail, but 
 it is to be noted that, among the advantages of the 
 study, Bain practically ignores the transcendent value 
 of the increased intellectual power derived from the 
 study of the classics, and the mastery acquired over the 
 resources of one's mother tongue, /. e., over the ideas 
 which form the highest intellectual elements of our 
 national life, — the very things which we set down 
 above as constituting the prime reason for studying 
 Latin, Of the other assumed advantages of the study 
 of the classics, Bain finds no one of sufficient weight to 
 be entitled to great respect. On the other hand he enu- 
 merates four positive objections to the study : his 
 I. The cost is great. 2. The mixture of o*cti«ns. 
 conflicting studies distracts the learner. 3. The study 
 is devoid of interest. 4. The classics inculcate the evil 
 of pandering to authority. 
 
 As to the cost, it must be admitted that Latin does 
 cost. It takes time and labour. If pursued as a daily 
 study in our American schools for four years, it claims 
 one-third of the entire secondary-school curriculum. 
 The real question for us, however, and the question 
 
38 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 which Bain professes to be examining, is the question of 
 value. To the discussion of that question the consider- 
 ation of cost is irrelevant. When we have determined 
 the value of Latin, the question of cost may properly 
 influence the pupil's choice in individual cases, but it 
 cannot affect the question of value any more than the 
 length of one's purse determines the value of a fine 
 watch. 
 
 That the study of Latin is devoid of interest (Bain's 
 third objection), or that it inspires a blind pandering 
 to authority (his fourth objection), is contrary to my 
 own experience, and I believe to that of teachers in this 
 country. I can only conclude that Bain is here advanc- 
 ing arguments which, if valid, are so only in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 More importance attaches to Bain's second objection, 
 which I intentionally reserve till the last. The mixture 
 of conflicting purposes, he adds, distracts the learner, 
 i. e. he would contend that it is distracting to the pupil 
 of Latin to be gaining in intellectual grip and breadth 
 of vision, to be mastering the resources of his mother 
 tongue (J,, e. the higher elements of the national life of 
 which he is a member), to be gaining a profounder 
 insight into the thought, life, and institutions of the 
 Romans, to be advancing in the cultivation of the 
 aesthetic and moral senses, — to be doing all these at 
 one and the same time. I see no answer to make to 
 this objection beyond declaring that experience does 
 not seem to me to bear out its truth, any more than 
 experience shows that the study of Latin is devoid of 
 interest or that it inculcates a blind respect for author- 
 ity. On the other hand, experience seems to me to 
 show, and to show abundantly, that all the results whose 
 contemporaneous realization Bain declares to be so dis- 
 tracting, do actually flow from the study of Latin. The 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 39 
 
 reason they do flow is, in my judgment, due to the 
 fact that they are not consciously sought by either pupil or 
 teacher. Were such the case, I am quite prepared to 
 believe that the joint quest would prove distracting and 
 even futile. Fortunately, however, the valuable results 
 of studying Latin are indirect results, while Bain's objec- 
 tion seems to have been formulated as a result of the 
 erroneous conviction that the valuable ends of Latin 
 study are always present to the pupil's consciousness. 
 It is really their absence from his consciousness which 
 is the salvation of the study. 
 
 Less radical in his attitude toward the value of Latin 
 in secondary education is Friedrich Paulsen, who in 
 1 885 published his important Geschichte des 
 gelehrten Unterrichts auf den deutschen Schu- ^"''^"" 
 len und Universitdten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis 
 zur Gegenwart mit besonderer Riicksicht auf den klas- 
 sischen Unterricht. Paulsen's criticisms upon classical 
 education as at present organized and conducted in 
 German secondary schools (fiymnasien and Realschu- 
 len) are embodied in his concluding chapter. Before 
 proceeding to their consideration, however, it will be 
 necessary to get clearly before our minds the status of 
 classical education in Germany. In the Gymnasien and 
 Realgymnasien Latin is studied for nine years, — from 
 about the tenth year to the nineteenth; while in the 
 Gymnasien Greek also is studied for six years, — from 
 about the thirteenth year to the nineteenth. A total of 
 fifteen years of study is therefore regularly devoted to 
 the classics in the Gymnasien. Another element that 
 enters into the situation is that the amount of work in 
 classics and other branches combined has long been 
 something enormous for the student of the Gymnasien. 
 For two generations the UeberbUrdungsfrage has been 
 
40 THE JUSTIFICA TION OF LA TIN 
 
 one uppermost in educational discussion. Accordingly 
 when Paulsen undertakes to show the evils of existing 
 conditions, and when he urges earnestly and cogently 
 the dropping of Greek and the radical retrenchment of 
 Latin, we must be exceedingly cautious what conclu- 
 sions we draw from his observations for the study of 
 Latin in the secondary schools of the United States. 
 The time now spent on Latin in a German Gymnasium 
 or Realgymnasium is more than equal to that spent by 
 most graduates of our American colleges who have pur- 
 sued Latin continuously from the lowest grade of the 
 high school to the termination of their college course. 
 A retrenchment of Latin in the German Gymnasien, 
 therefore, may be entirely compatible with the main- 
 tenance of the existing attention given to Latin in this 
 country, or even with its extension. 
 
 Paulsen nowhere goes so far as to advocate the aban- 
 donment of Latin as an instrument of German second- 
 ary education. His attitude on this point I believe has 
 largely been misunderstood in this country, owing 
 mainly to the prevalent incapacity of many minds to 
 dissociate Latin and Greek. Paulsen's attitude as re- 
 gards Greek is practically uncompromising. For the 
 great body of students he is convinced it would better 
 be abandoned, but as regards Latin, he nowhere goes 
 beyond the demand for retrenchment. Thus on p. 762, 
 while declaring positively that the present ideal of clas- 
 sical education in Germany must pass away, he unhesi- 
 Beiievesin tatingly asserts his belief that Latin must 
 Retaining continue to be indispensable. As to the 
 amount of time to be devoted to the study 
 we get an expression of opinion on p. 774, where Paul- 
 sen thinks that the study may profitably be pursued 
 through the lower and middle classes, — presumably to 
 the end of Oberteriia, or five years in all. On p. 782 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 4 1 
 
 he even goes so far as to admit that experience may 
 show that for certain classes of students the traditional 
 classical course will still be necessary. But in the main 
 Paulsen's estimate of the value of the classics, Latin as 
 well as Greek, is an exceedingly low one. Let us briefly 
 consider his reasons. 
 
 First, he complains that classical training as pursued in 
 Germany does not exert any marked influence upon the 
 pupils' German style. In fact he goes so far 
 as to assert that men who have enjoyed the Defective 
 classical training are conspicuously lacking in Respite of 
 any sense for form, and the typical scholar is 
 nothing less than a laughing-stock, — a handy conven- 
 tional figure largely utilized in popular comedy to pro- 
 voke merriment. This indictment is severe, and if well 
 grounded certainly constitutes a weighty argument 
 against the pursuit of Latin. But Paulsen's testimony 
 is contradicted by his own countrymen, e. g. by Dett- 
 weiler, quoted above, p. 18 f It is, I believe, contradicted 
 also by the impressions received by most Americans in 
 their contact with German gymnasial graduates fre- 
 quenting the German universities. However, for us 
 Americans the question is not one to be settled by the 
 experience of Germany. The question for us is, whether 
 Latin produces certain results upon our own pupils. 
 
 Another of Paulsen's arguments is to the effect that, 
 after all, vital results in education emanate from the 
 personality of the teacher, not from the subject. Cer- 
 tainly there can be no underrating of the effect of per- 
 sonahty in the teaching of any branch ; but that fact has 
 nothing whatever to do with the large question, whether 
 there are not vast differences between the educational 
 values of different subjects. Until experience faintly 
 demonstrates the contrary, we must believe such differ- 
 ences exist; and so long as they do, the influence of 
 
42 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 personality in teaching can hardly be considered as 
 bearing upon the question at issue. Even Paulsen him- 
 self, by the way, candidly admits that the ancient clas- 
 sics do afford an unusual opportunity for the effective 
 exercise of personal influence, or at least that they 
 would, were it not that inability to understand the lan- 
 guage in which they are written constitutes an impassa- 
 ble barrier between teacher and pupil. But it is difficult 
 for an American who has witnessed the brilliant inter- 
 pretations of the classics in the upper forms of the 
 Gymnasien to credit the general existence of any such 
 barrier. 
 
 Paulsen passes on to urge that the pursuit of the 
 classics does not tend to promote that sympathy, charity, 
 Moral and brotherly love which might be expected 
 
 Influence, from the humanities. But certainly Paulsen's 
 own volume teaches us most clearly that the humanities 
 (jtudia kumaniora) were never so designated because 
 they were supposed to make men humane, in the sense 
 of sympathetic and charitable. Humanism was but the 
 revolt from scholasticism: the one made God the ex- 
 clusive object of speculation ; the new tendency empha- 
 sized man, his achievements, capacities, and aspirations. 
 The implication, therefore, that the classics are specially 
 under obligations to make men kindly and charitable is 
 one hardly justified by the designation ' humanities,' nor 
 has it ever been the professed ideal of these studies. But 
 let us look at the facts adduced by Paulsen in support 
 of his charge that the study of the classics promotes 
 strife, hatred, pride, and all uncharitableness. He cites 
 a letter of Jakob Grimm, in which complaint is made 
 that of all branches of knowledge none is more arrogant, 
 more contentious, and less indulgent toward the short- 
 comings of others than philology. Goethe also writes 
 in a similar strain to Knebel. But philology is not con- 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 43 
 
 fined to the classics ; it includes the modern languages 
 as well, even German, which, as we shall later see, is 
 specially recommended by Paulsen to take the place of 
 Greek and Latin in the reformed program. Goethe's 
 indictment also is not directed against the classics, but 
 against liberal studies in general. But neither of these 
 men was considering the effects of any of these studies 
 upon pupils. They were obviously alluding to the 
 exhibitions of jealousy and rivalry manifested between 
 scholars of eminence. Such exhibitions must always be 
 a more or less frequent result of keen intellectual com- 
 petition. They are no more frequent in classical phil- 
 ology than in other departments. Nothing can exceed 
 the virulence of some of the recent polemical literature 
 evoked in Germany by the higher criticism of the Scrip- 
 tures. Even philosophy (another subject which Paulsen 
 cordially endorses as a substitute for the classics) is not 
 without its amenities, and I vividly recall the polemic of 
 a leading German investigator in this field, in which 
 words were used that English literature has not tolerated 
 since the days of Swift. Natural science, too, has not 
 been exempt, — a study which Grimm and Goethe 
 seemed to think more adapted to the development of 
 a " sweet reasonableness." Such may have been the 
 case in Germany at the beginning of the century. It 
 may still be so. But certainly in the United States 
 there are many exceptions to this rule, and one of my 
 clearest boyhood recollections is of the vehement per- 
 sonal invectives hurled against each other by two emi- 
 nent paleontologists. 
 
 Paulsen will attach no weight to the fact that men, 
 even professional men, who have enjoyed the severe 
 classical training of the Gymnasien, are prac- ^^:^ y^osss. 
 tically a unit in their advocacy of retaining 
 this instruction in its present form. These men, he 
 
44 THE JUSTIFICA TION OF LA TIN 
 
 asserts, are actuated not by any educational considera- 
 tions, they are not impressed with any sense of the 
 value of the training they have received. What actu- 
 ates them is social piide, an aristocratic sense of the 
 recognised superiority which their education has con- 
 ferred. They wish to perpetuate the caste in all its 
 glory. How just this imputation of motives is, it is of 
 course impossible for us to determine, but one hesitates 
 to believe it well founded. At all events, in this country 
 no one will charge the existence of such sentiments as 
 a factor in the adjustment of educational problems. 
 
 Paulsen's last argument is based upon the observable 
 educational tendencies of the last four centuries. Ever 
 Tendency of since the Renaissance and the Reformation the 
 the Times. relative importance of the classics has been 
 diminishing. There was a time early in the sixteenth 
 century when these studies practically monopolized the 
 field of learning. Each succeeding century has seen 
 their relative importance diminish. Paulsen's reasoning 
 is that ultimately their place must vanish, and that that 
 era has in fact arrived. But any such argument based 
 upon the operation of a tendency is likely to be falla- 
 cious. No one can say with certainty how long a given 
 tendency may operate. The record of the American 
 trotting horse has been reduced in the last twenty-five 
 years from two minutes seventeen and one-quarter sec- 
 onds to a fraction over two minutes. But he would be 
 bold who should predict that this tendency will go on 
 without limit. Similarly, educational policies can hardly 
 be determined on the basis of observed tendencies. 
 They must be settled rather in the light of existing 
 conditions. 
 
 As substitutes for Greek and for so much of Latin as 
 it is proposed to banish, Paulsen suggests the introduc- 
 tion of philosophy and German. We hardly need to 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 45 
 
 discuss the value of the former of these studies. If in- 
 troduced into the Gymnasien, it is obvious that philoso- 
 phy could be intended only for the two higher Proposed 
 classes of the Gymnasium, a department of substitutes, 
 education lying beyond what we designate as secondary, 
 and corresponding rather to the lower years of our 
 American colleges. But the proposition to introduce 
 German as a substitute for the classics invites our care- 
 ful attention, for if it is sound for Germany, it is also 
 sound for us to replace the study of either or both the 
 classical languages by the study of English. My 
 reasons for questioning the soundness of the general 
 principle involved are two: 
 
 I. Experience has never shown that any study of the 
 vernacular is capable of yielding results in anyway com- 
 parable with those secured from the study of ij,a4gg„ac ot 
 other languages. In fact experience has so a study of the 
 frequently illustrated the reverse as prac- ^^^'^ ^' 
 tically to have demonstrated the impossibility of secur- 
 ing such results. 2. Reflection, too, reveals adequate 
 grounds for believing that the study of the vernacu- 
 lar never can prove of any very high educative value. 
 The case has been so well stated by Fouillee, Educa- 
 tiofi from a National Standpoint, p. 108, that I quote 
 his words : " From the point of view of individual de- 
 velopment, the study of the mother tongue is only 
 sufficient in the case of exceptionally gifted minds. 
 Secondary education should be regulated according to 
 the average, and not according to exceptional students. 
 Now, on the average, to the culture essential to the 
 humanities, the study of a tongue other than the mother 
 tongue is the shortest and surest method. A French- 
 man, for instance, has a quick mind and a versatile 
 intellect ; but the very facility with which he uses his 
 intellect does not leave him enough time for reflection. 
 
46 THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 
 
 When a French boy is reading a French book, unless he 
 enjoys unusual reflective faculties, his mind is carried 
 away by the general sense, and the details and shades 
 of expression escape him. As M. Rabier says, 'A 
 French child reading a page of Pascal or Bossuet does 
 not fully grasp it, i. e. only half grasps it' Exercises 
 and translations force the child to weigh every word, to 
 ascertain its exact meaning, to find its equivalent; he 
 must also consider the inter-relations of the ideas and 
 words in order to fix the sense concealed in the text ; 
 finally, he must transpose the whole from one language 
 to another, just as a musician transposes an air. The 
 final result is that he has repeated for himself the labours 
 of the thinker and writer; he has re-thought their 
 thoughts, and has revived the living form which was 
 organic to the writer's thought. He has had to repro- 
 duce a work of art. A cursory perusal of works in the 
 mother tongue is rather like a stroll through a museum ; 
 translation from one language to another is hke copying 
 a picture ; the one makes amateurs, the other artists. 
 In this tvay the sense of depth and form are simultane- 
 ously acquired." My own experience confirms this 
 view. For some years I was connected with one of our 
 large universities, in which there was an " English " 
 course. The preparation for admission to this course 
 included neither classics nor modern languages, but 
 was based primarily upon English itself. For years the 
 students who presented themselves for admission with 
 this English preparation were recognised as the most 
 deficient in intellectual strength and training of any who 
 came up to the University. Nothing, I believe, but a 
 desire to give the experiment the fairest possible trial 
 prevented the early abolition of that course. 
 
 In conclusion, Paulsen calls for the exercise of more 
 common sense in the organization of education, partic- 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 4? 
 
 ularly in the establishment of the curriculum. Common 
 sense, he adds, suggests that languages are learned to 
 be understood, and the inference is that, if understand- 
 ing them is not obviously of transcendent value, then 
 their study is profitless. All the fine phrases about the 
 discipline and culture, he adds, supposed to result from 
 language study are likely to make no appeal to sturdy 
 common sense. If by sturdy common sense is meant 
 the instinctive conclusion of the common man who has 
 given no serious thought to the problems of education, 
 Paulsen is probably right, but can we safely intrust the 
 interests of our higher education to such hands? 
 
 Such are Paulsen's arguments against the study of 
 Greek and Latin in the German secondary schools, and 
 such are the substitutes he proposes. I have Rgyje^of 
 considered them partly because they repre- Paulsen's 
 sent the conclusions of an eminojit thinker 
 and earnest student of educational problems, partly 
 because by many in this country Paulsen is popularly 
 supposed to have demonstrated finally the absolute lack 
 of any raison d'etre for the study of either of the classical 
 languages. Our examination of his arguments shows, I 
 think, that they are very far from justifying the radical 
 changes which he proposes in German secondary edu- 
 cation. Much less do they warrant a lack of confidence 
 in the pursuit of the classics as pursued in this country ; 
 while, as regards Latin, Paulsen expressly recognises the 
 justification of retaining quite as much as is ordinarily 
 pursued in American secondary schools. 
 
 In conclusion we may state the case for Latin briefly 
 as follows : 
 
 Reason and experience show that Latin in secondary 
 education is capable of producing intellectual results of 
 great positive value, practically indispensable to the 
 
48 THE JUSTIFICA TION OF LA TIN 
 
 educated man. Experience has not yet shown that any 
 
 other subject (excepting possibly Greek) is capable of 
 
 producing equally good results. Theorists 
 
 Summary. ^ .- , i 11 r 1 
 
 have often asserted the equal value oi other 
 subjects, or at least have asserted the capacity of other 
 subjects to yield as good results. Some of these 
 theories, e. g. that in favour of the study of modern 
 languages, that in favour of the study of the vernacular, 
 we subjected to criticism with a view to showing their 
 defects. Still the empirical argument must ever be the 
 stronger, and, say what one may, the stubborn fact 
 remains of the unique educational influence exercised 
 by Latin. By this it is not for a moment meant to 
 disparage the legitimate functions of a single other 
 study. Their special value is ungrudgingly conceded. 
 But in the light of our present knowledge, it seems a 
 plain educational duty to adhere to Latin as admirably 
 meeting a distinct educational need which is not met 
 by any of the other subjects with which we are so often 
 urged to replace it. 
 
 At present, however, the danger seems to be not 
 that too few will study Latin, but rather too many. 
 A Possible Latin is a difficult subject, and the peculiar 
 Banger. educative power it possesses is not capable 
 of being exercised upon all minds,- — - only upon those 
 of a certain natural endowment. In our intense democ- 
 racy we are perhaps at times inclined to forget that 
 no constitutional declarations of civil equality can ever 
 make, or were ever intended to recognise, an intellectual 
 equality between the individual members of the nation. 
 Latin is good for those whose gifts enable them to 
 profit by its study. It is not, however, capable of 
 popular distribution like so much flour or sugar. 
 Because Latin is a highly effective instrument for the 
 training of certain minds, we must not think that the 
 
THE JUSTIFICATION OF LATIN 49 
 
 efficiency is contained in the subject/^r j^/ there must 
 exist in the pupil the mental endowment requisite to 
 profit by Latin ; else the time spent upon the study is 
 worse than wasted. Observation convinces me that 
 many parents and pupils labour from a serious miscon- 
 ception on this point, and that many are ambitious to 
 study Latin whom nature has not endowed with the 
 capacity to benefit by its pursuit. 
 
 The present enormous increase in the number of 
 Latin pupils in our American secondary schools seems 
 to justify calling attention to possible dangers in this 
 direction. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE BEGrNMIWG WORK 
 
 In the beginning work we are confronted with what 
 is probably the greatest difficuhy in the entire range 
 Diflicuity of of elementary Latin instruction. The pupil 
 the ProWem. ^}jq j^ his early study fails to become well- 
 grounded in the elements of Latin — who fails to secure 
 an accurate knowledge of forms and of the leading 
 principles of syntax — is at once put at an immense 
 disadvantage. The chances are that he becomes dis- 
 couraged, and that his continuance in the work will 
 prove increasingly uninteresting and increasingly profit- 
 less to himself, as well as increasingly burdensome to 
 his teachers. The proper conduct of the beginning 
 work also makes the severest demands upon the knowl- 
 edge and skill of the teacher. Too often, beginners are 
 intrusted to inexperienced instructors on the general 
 theory, apparently, that the lower the class the easier 
 it is to instruct it. But in every subject I believe that, 
 if there must be differences, the ablest and wisest teacher 
 should be put in charge of the beginning work. " Aller 
 Anfang ist schwer," says Goethe. Certainly this is pre- 
 eminently true of Latin. Only the well-trained teacher, 
 whose knowledge of Latin is accurate and broad, is 
 qualified wisely to direct the first steps of the begin- 
 ner. For only such can and will inculcate that indis- 
 pensable precision, and only such can judge what things 
 are of vital importance and must be learned now, and 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 5 1 
 
 what things are less essential and may be deferred to a 
 later time. 
 
 Even for a well-trained and accurate Latinist, the 
 difficulties that beset the teacher in charge of the 
 beginning work are very great. Some of them are 
 inherent in the subject; some of them are connected 
 with the choice of method to be pursued. Their num- 
 ber and importance makes it desirable to consider 
 them under different heads. I shall discuss succes- 
 sively I. The Beginner's Book. II. Pronunciation. 
 III. The "Inductive" Method. IV. Reading at Sight. 
 V. Unseen Translation. VI. Easy Reading. 
 
 I. The Beginner's Book. 
 
 No problem is greater than the wise choice of the first 
 book to be put into the beginner's hands. The plan of 
 the beginner's book used in this country has 
 been rapidly and radically changing in the ner'sBook 
 last twenty years. Twenty years ago the "f Twenty 
 pupil usually began with the Latin Gram- 
 mar and the Latin Reader. The Gramm* served to 
 give the facts of pronunciation, accent, declension, con- 
 jugation, etc., while the Reader gave parallel exercises 
 illustrative of the parts of the Grammar assigned from 
 day to day. The development naturally followed the 
 arrangement of the Grammar, i. e. the pupils were 
 taught the five declensions in succession, then the 
 adjective, pronouns, and the four conjugations. Dur- 
 ing the acquisition of the forms little attention was paid 
 to syntax. Only a few indispensable principles of the 
 most elementary kind were introduced at this stage, 
 such as the rules for the predicate noun, appositive, 
 subject, object, agreement of adjective with noun, etc. 
 After the acquisition of the forms, and before the com- 
 
52 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 mencement of the regular reading of a continuous text, 
 the beginner's attention was directed to the elementary 
 syntactical principles of the language. Here again the 
 Grammar was used as the basis of instruction, and 
 the different constructions studied were accompanied 
 by parallel illustrative sentences in the Reader. Like 
 the study of the forms, the study of the syntax followed 
 the order of the Grammar, i. e. all the constructions 
 of one case were treated together, and all the case 
 constructions preceded the constructions of mood and 
 tense. This method of study yielded excellent results. 
 Boys learned their forms with accuracy, they early 
 became familiar with the Grammar, and so laid a solid 
 foundation for future work. This plan of 
 
 A Dsfect. 
 
 instruction, however, involved one feature 
 which exposed it to attack from the theoretical side; 
 it was urged that the isolated fragmentary words and 
 phrases given in the Reader as parallel exercises to the 
 Grammar were irrational. During the acquisition of 
 the declension of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, and 
 largely during the study of the conjugations, the pupil 
 was fed in the Reader on these isolated words and 
 phrases. Complete sentences were almost unknown, — 
 necessarily so until the verb was reached. Now, it was 
 urged that it was an injustice to the pupil to be confined 
 for weeks together to such unnatural exercises as 
 Dionysii tyranni ; equum Balbi ; vobis ; temphim quod- 
 dam; audiveris ; sunto ; laudatos esse, etc. The justice 
 of this position is fairly debatable, but debate now is 
 hardly necessary. To-day the use of the Grammar 
 Tie Typical ^^^ Reader as above described is a thing of 
 Beginner's the past. For two decades the beginner's 
 Bmk of To- bQQ]^ j^j^g jjgg^ coming into more and more 
 
 general use, until to-day its reign is prac- 
 tically universal. These books are usually complete 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK S3 
 
 in themselves. They contain all the grammar supposed 
 to be essential for the beginning pupil, along with 
 copious illustrative sentences. Representing as they 
 do, also, a reaction against the old Reader with its iso- 
 lated words and detached phrases, they introduce com- 
 plete sentences at the start. This is accomplished by 
 treating certain parts of the verb in the very earliest 
 lessons. 
 
 Had the makers of these books contented themselves 
 with remedying what they characterized as the crying 
 defect of the old Reader, the result would not have 
 been so bad. But they have gone much further. Most 
 of these manuals are absolutely without plan unsyste- 
 in their distribution of material. Bits of the inatic. 
 noun, adjective, adverb, verb, and pronoun are found scat- 
 tered here and there throughout the book, interspersed 
 with various syntactical rules, now on the noun, now on 
 the verb, now on one case, now on another. The most 
 cursory glance at almost any one of the dozens of 
 beginner's books published in recent years will amply 
 confirm the accuracy of this statement. 
 
 The plan of these books has long seemed to me 
 pedagogically unsound, and in practice I fear they have 
 not enabled us to realize the best results in our element- 
 ary Latin teaching. To me it seems undeniable that 
 pupils to-day are conspicuously inferior in the mastery 
 of their inflections to the pupils of twenty years ago, 
 as well as conspicuously inferior in their general famili- 
 arity with the Latin Grammar. This observation I find 
 is quite general. The complaint comes from Harvard 
 even, situated though it is in the centre of the finest 
 preparatory schools of the country, — schools whose 
 efficiency ought to increase, not diminish, with time. 
 Both these results I trace in large measure directly to 
 the type of beginner's books now in vogue ; as regards 
 
54 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 the former, at least, I do not see how it can possibly 
 be assigned to any other source. 
 
 Let us examine more closely the defects of these 
 books. My criticisms will cover three heads : 
 Defects in I • They separate things that logically be- 
 
 Detau. long together ; also, in endeavouring to relieve 
 
 the memory and to promote interest, they sacrifice 
 accuracy of knowledge. 
 
 2. They separate things in the early stages of teach- 
 ing which must later be associated. 
 
 3. In introducing the translation of English into Latin 
 before the forms are thoroughly mastered, they involve 
 a serious expenditure of time without any corresponding 
 gain. 
 
 My first criticism was that things which logically 
 belong together are in these books separated from one 
 
 another. Thus the five declensions seem to 
 of°?^t "" nic more like each other than like anything 
 leiongs else ; the same is true of the pronouns taken 
 
 as a whole ; it is also true of the four con- 
 jugations of regular verbs, and even of the irregular 
 verbs taken as a whole. So also in the case of the 
 syntax; the different constructions of the genitive, 
 the dative, the accusative, or the ablative, the uses of 
 the subjunctive, seem to me more like each other than 
 like anything else. This intimate logical relationship is 
 explicitly recognised, too, in all Latin grammars with 
 which I am acquainted. Now both reason and experi- 
 ence have for years constantly tended to strengthen my 
 conviction that facts which logically belong together 
 are most easily acquired by being learned in conjunction 
 with one another, and that it is a fundamental psycho- 
 logical mistake to dissociate such facts in teaching. 
 Thus the pupil who is studying Roman private antiqui- 
 ties, for instance, can hardly expect to secure an easy 
 
THE^ BEGINNER'S BOOK 55 
 
 mastery of his subject if in one lesson he learns a few 
 facts about the Roman house, a few more about the 
 toga, coupled with isolated allusions to the modes of 
 marriage and the methods of disposal of the body after 
 death. Similarly, the pupil who acquires in one lesson 
 a bit of a verb, a paradigm of a declension, the inflec- 
 tion of a pronoun, along with a rule for the use of the 
 infinitive, and then in the next, perhaps, the principles 
 for the use of ami, the formation of adverbs, and the 
 conjugation of possum, — such a pupil, I say, seems to 
 me to be put at an enormous psychological disadvan- 
 tage in his acquisition of the really essential facts whose 
 thorough mastery is so indispensable. 
 
 A certain theory of interest is, I am well aware, some- 
 times urged in defence of the prevailing plan, but it is 
 a serious question whether interest is really ne Theory 
 promoted by a plan which does violence to "^ interest 
 obvious psychological laws, and, even if interest were 
 promoted, whether it would be wise to make so great a 
 sacrifice for the end. 
 
 The combination of a study of syntax with the forms 
 results apparently from the same motive, — that of 
 increasing the interest of the subject by in- f^^„^ ^^_ 
 creasing its variety. trainjae of 
 
 It is frequently urged, too, that the old ^ emory. 
 method of vigorous, aggressive attack upon the para- 
 digms (and upon them alone until mastered) involved 
 a training of the memory at the expense of other facul- 
 ties; hence the justification of combining the study of 
 syntax with that of the declensions and conjugations. 
 But even were the study of syntax taken up more sys- 
 tematically, I am convinced that it would be a mistake 
 to pursue its study in conjunction with the study of the 
 forms. It can hardly fail to distract the energy of the 
 beginning Latin student to be studying contemporane- 
 
56 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 ously two things so different as forms and syntax. Any 
 such plan necessarily precludes, or at least enormously 
 diminishes, any effective concentration. Without such 
 concentration it must be more difficult to acquire a 
 mastery of either forms or syntax, We hear much 
 Importance of to-day of correlation in educational work, 
 Concentration, j^y^ ^g need to exercise the greatest dis- 
 crimination in the combinations we undertake to make ; 
 else under the name of correlation we are likely to find 
 ourselves encouraging a serious dissipation of energy. 
 Nor need we, I beheve, cherish any fears of overtraining 
 the memory by directing the pupil's efforts from the 
 outset exclusively (or practically so ^ ) to a systematic 
 study of the forms until these are mastered. So far 
 from there being any danger of overtraining the memory 
 by this plan, I am convinced, by my experience with 
 some twelve hundred freshmen whose work has all 
 passed directly under my observation during the last 
 ten years, that there is the greatest danger of training 
 it too little. The age at which pupils ordinarily begin 
 the study of Latin is one at which the memory is usu- 
 ally active and responsive. Later the keenness of its 
 edge is dulled, and it seems unfortunate not to encour- 
 age its cultivation by putting upon it the legitimate 
 burdens which at this period it is fitted to bear with 
 ease. Nor is it a common experience that pupils quali- 
 fied to pursue Latin with profit find this work either 
 specially laborious or distasteful when pursued in the 
 manner I am recommending. On the other hand, I 
 
 1 There can be no objection to giving the pupil at the outset the 
 paradigm of the present indicative active of a regular verb of the ist 
 conjugation, the present indicative of sum, along with a few fundamental 
 syntactical principles (subject, object, predicate noun, appositive). This 
 makes it possible to deal with complete sentences from the earliest 
 lessons. 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 57 
 
 cannot reject the conviction that the labour is increased 
 and the acquisition of the forms is made positively dis- 
 tasteful by assuming, even unconsciously, the attitude 
 that a vigorous attack upon the forms and a most thor- 
 ough memorizing of them is not desirable. As has 
 been often observed, the pupil in the early weeks of 
 his study of Latin is dominated by a veritable thirst 
 for extensive acquisition, and it seems unfortunate not 
 to gratify this spirit and utilize it, instead of wearying 
 the pupil by unnatural restraint. 
 
 The exclusive exercise of the memory is certainly a 
 pernicious practice, but we cannot afford to neglect the 
 service of this intellectual process at any stage of educa- 
 tion or in the pursuit of any subject. Least of all can 
 we afford to neglect it in the study of a highly inflected 
 language, the knowledge of whose paradigms is so 
 absolutely indispensable to all future work. These 
 paradigms must be memorized till they are as famihar 
 to the pupil as the alphabet or the multiplication table. 
 Only so can he be said to know them. The important 
 question is whether it is best to pursue a halting timid 
 policy or one of vigorous, sustained attack, recognising 
 that nothing but the severe exercise of the memory will 
 suffice for the purpose. Yet it is only in the very ear- 
 liest stages of Latin study that any such extensive utili- 
 zation of the memory can be necessary. The pupil 
 comes soon enough to problems which demand the 
 exercise of the reflective, the discriminating, and the 
 imaginative faculties, and he will be all the better 
 equipped to cope with these problems if he has first 
 provided himself with a solid foundation in the forms. 
 In fact, without such foundation he will be permanently 
 at a fatal disadvantage. 
 
 The second defect of the beginner's book of the pre- 
 vailing type is that it separates in the initial stages of the 
 
58 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 work things which must later be associated. Thus the 
 
 pupil, let us say, learns the present, imperfect, and 
 
 future indicative of amo in one lesson ; in 
 Necessitates 
 
 Later Re- another somewhat later he learns the perfect 
 adjustments, -y^^y^^-^-^y,^ active, and long subsequently he 
 acquires piecemeal the remainder of the conjugation of 
 amo. So with the other conjugations, with the pronouns, 
 with the five declensions, particularly the third, which is 
 often dismembered and whose parts are treated at wide 
 intervals ; so, too, with the various constructions of the 
 accusative, dative, genitive, ablative, etc. Sooner or 
 later the pupil comes to the Grammar, and here he 
 finds the facts with which he has previously become 
 familiar grouped in quite another way. In the review 
 of what he has already learned, and in forming a basis 
 around which to group systematically the new facts of 
 forms and syntax he may acquire, the pupil is forced 
 to make an entirely new distribution of his stock of 
 knowledge. All the subtle threads of association which 
 have hitherto been woven into the existing fabric of his 
 knowledge have to be rudely broken, and a new warp 
 and a new woof have to be created. I fear that the 
 amount of effort requisite for the consummation of this 
 redistribution and rearrangement is not fully appreci- 
 ated. To my mind the requisite effort cannot fail to 
 be enormous. ^ I fear, in fact, that it is so great that 
 the redistribution and rearrangement frequently fail of 
 consummation by the pupil, and to this fact I believe 
 we must attribute in large measure ^ the deplorable 
 ignorance of Latin grammar which characterizes the 
 
 1 On this point, cf. Dettweiler (in Baumeister, Handbuch der Erzie- 
 hungs- und Unterrichtslehre fiir die lioheren Schulen, Vol. III. Part iii., 
 Lateinisch, p. 36), wlio insists that the beginner's boolc and the Gram- 
 mar should agree in arrangement and in form of statement. 
 
 2 Another cause is mentioned later in chapter iv. p. 144. 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 59. 
 
 pupils of our secondary schools to-day. Even where 
 the change of association and the necessary regrouping 
 are effected, it can be only at great expense of time and 
 energy. A true economy of acquisition should always 
 consider the ultimate form and arrangement in which 
 the student is to marshal and group the facts of his 
 knowledge. Unless we are to abandon the effective 
 study of the Latin Grammar, it seems to me indispen- 
 sable to make the beginner's book conform in its arrange- 
 ment and material to the order of the Grammar, so far 
 as the two books cover identical ground. In this way 
 the beginning book will be a distinct help to the later 
 study of the Grammar ; in the other case, the difficulty 
 of the new adjustment is likely to prove a serious im- 
 pediment to an effective mastery of the Grammar. The 
 old way of beginning Latin with Grammar and Reader 
 would, I believe, be sounder and easier than this. 
 
 The third fundamental defect in these books to which 
 I wished to call attention touches the introduction of 
 exercises in translating English into Latin 
 before the forms are mastered. So far as i^^^" 
 
 any increased mastery of the forms is con- introduced 
 , . ... too Early, 
 
 cerned, it seems a serious mistake to expect 
 
 to secure it by practice in translating from English into 
 Latin. Let us suppose, for example, that the essential 
 feature of the lesson for a given day is the inflection of a 
 noun of the first declension, or the indicative Economy 
 mood of the active voice of amo. Is it likely •' '^^^• 
 to be an effective employment of the student's time and 
 energy, for him to translate, say, a dozen or fifteen sen- 
 tences from English into Latin, calling for the use of 
 different forms oi porta and amof The pupil in this way 
 gets but a limited amount of drill on the forms. Fifteen 
 sentences of the sort mentioned constitute a fairly long 
 exercise. My own experiments indicate that two and 
 
6o THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 one-half minutes is a very moderate average time allow- 
 ance for each sentence. This makes thirty-seven minutes 
 for such an exercise, a large proportion of the pupil's 
 Defective time. Moreover, the exercise is almost certain 
 Results. to be lacking in tonic effect. The pupil's nat- 
 
 ural tendency in writing the Latin for ' of the farmer,' 
 ' of the girls,' ' to the inhabitants,' etc., is to turn to 
 his printed paradigm and secure the desired form by 
 imitating ; so in the verb, ' he will praise,' ' we have 
 praised,' ' you summoned,' ' they are calling,' etc., are 
 not turned into Latin by an active effort of deriving the 
 required form from the pupil's present knowledge of 
 the paradigm, but almost inevitably the pupil follows the 
 line of least resistance and consults the printed paradigm. 
 This tendency on the pupil's part is so strong, I beheve, 
 as to be practically irresistible, and, where yielded to, 
 must exert an influence which, so far from being tonic 
 and strengthening, is positively weakening to the pupil. 
 To me it seems possible to ensure the requisite inde- 
 pendent exercise upon the forms only by oral methods 
 under the immediate direction of the teacher. 
 
 Let me illustrate what I have in mind. Let us sup- 
 pose the lesson is on the first declension. Let the 
 A Practical teacher put to the entire class such questions 
 Suggestion, as the following, asking for a show of hands 
 as each pupil is prepared to answer: "What is the 
 Latin for ' of girls ; ' ' to the farmers ; ' ' farmers ' as sub- 
 ject; as object; ' of the island '? " and so on, «. ^. pursu- 
 ing a series of questions in which the Enghsh is given 
 and the corresponding Latin form is demanded. Then 
 let the reverse process be instituted, and translation into 
 English be demanded where the Latin form is given. 
 The teacher asks : " What is the English for puellae, 
 for insulis, incolarum, incolam, agricolae, agricolas ? " etc. 
 Then a fresh turn may be taken and the form be given, 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 6l 
 
 while the pupils are asked to give the number and case 
 in which the form is found ; and, lastly, the teacher may 
 give the number and case, asking for the form which 
 corresponds, e. g., " What is the genitive plural of m- 
 sula; the dative singular of agricola; the dative plural; 
 the accusative plural of incolaf ", etc. Similarly with the 
 verb ; the teacher can give the meaning and ask for the 
 corresponding form, or he may give the form and ask 
 for the meaning; or he may state the mood, tense, 
 person, and number in which a given form is found and 
 ask the pupils to give the form ; or, lastly, he may give 
 the form and ask the pupils to locate its mood, tense, 
 number, and person. By such an exercise the pupils 
 are thrown entirely upon their own resources. They 
 are forced to recall and to reconstruct; they cannot 
 refer to a book ; the process is stimulating and strength- 
 ening. They are indelibly imprinting upon their minds 
 vivid pictures of the paradigms, filling in the relatively 
 uncertain and shadowy outlines with definite and effec- 
 tive strokes. Another advantage of such an exercise 
 is the amount of work that can be done in a relatively 
 short time. The pupil who in thirty-seven minutes has 
 written fifteen exercises has at best received only fifteen 
 impressions illustrating the paradigm involved in the 
 lesson for the day. There is the greatest danger, too, 
 that these impressions have been feeble, — inevitably so 
 if, instead of recalling the required form by a direct 
 effort, the pupil has consulted the printed paradigm for 
 it. On the other hand, by such an exercise as I 
 describe it is easily possible in two minutes to secure 
 these fifteen impressions, and to be sure that they have 
 been secured by the only way possessing any educative 
 value, — by a direct effort of the memory and reason. 
 In ten minutes, therefore, five times as much can be 
 done toward impressing upon the pupil's mind the 
 
62 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 paradigm of porta or of amo as in four times the same 
 amount of time devoted to writing sentences involving 
 the application of these forms, and the teacher can be 
 certain too that the work has been honest. It is not 
 difficult either to enlist the activity of an entire class in 
 such an exercise. While only one pupil can answer 
 any given question, yet I have never failed to feel 
 convinced, where I have followed this plan, that the 
 entire class were doing the work. Such work, further- 
 more, is intensive, whereas the writing of sentences — 
 even of simple sentences — inevitably distracts the 
 pupil's mind from the forms, and dissipates his energies 
 upon a variety of things. One of these is the vocabu- 
 lary. As the pupil progresses from lesson to lesson 
 he is sure to forget some, at least, of the earlier Latin 
 words, and when he needs them there is only one re- 
 course, — to hunt them up in the Vocabulary at the end 
 of the book. Another difficulty is the syntax, — slight, 
 perhaps, but actual ; yet another is the matter of word- 
 order. All of these elements together conspire to pre- 
 vent that indispensable concentration upon the forms 
 without which they cannot be mastered. Instead of 
 doing one thing, the pupil is doing several contempora- 
 neously, and all probably indifferently. " One thing at 
 a time, and that done well" was a fine old motto of our 
 fathers, which seems too much neglected in recent edu- 
 cation. Still the writing of Latin undoubtedly has its 
 place. When the pupil comes to the systematic study 
 of syntax, such exercises are indispensable ; but I hold 
 it to be a self-evident proposition that for the purposes 
 of effisctive drill in syntax the forms must be already 
 thoroughly mastered, so that the pupil's entire energy 
 may be devoted to the one central object of attention. 
 Only then can we secure that definiteness of impression 
 which is the foundation of real knowledge. The piano- 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 63 
 
 forte pupil does not practise exercises the successive 
 bars of which consist of arpeggios, trills, double thirds, 
 octaves, and scales. These various elements of musical 
 capacity are taken individually, and each is made the 
 subject of intensive work. I cannot but feel that in all 
 study and all teaching the same principle must apply 
 wherever effective progress is to be made without de- 
 plorable waste of time and energy both on the pupil's 
 and the teacher's part. 
 
 As to the vocabulary of the beginner's book, 1 
 beheve it should be small. The principle above advo- 
 cated of doing one thing at a time and doincf „^ „ ^ 
 ^u i. ^u • ^y , , . . ° The Vocabn- 
 
 tnat tnmg well, as opposed to undertakmg to laiy should 
 
 do several things at a time and inviting dis- ^ ®™*"' 
 aster, holds here also. If the beginner can learn his in- 
 flections and a few elements of syntax, even though his 
 vocabulary be limited, he is equipped to begin some 
 simple reading. A vocabulary can be acquired only 
 slowly at best, and its acquisition will be retarded so 
 long as the pupil still has an imperfect or incomplete 
 knowledge of his paradigms, and is still under the neces- 
 sity of devoting a large part of his energy to this feature 
 of his Latin study. Even after the forms are mastered, 
 it would still seem wiser, pending the acquisition of the 
 fundamental principles of Latin syntax, to defer any 
 special endeavour to extend the range of the pupil's vocab- 
 ulary. When these indispensable preliminaries have 
 been met the pupil may well enough make the acquisi- 
 tion of a vocabulary an important end of study, and may 
 then, I believe, expect to make fairly rapid progress in 
 his quest. But before that, I am convinced not only 
 that his struggle will be futile, but that his general prog- 
 ress in other directions will be impeded by the multi- 
 plicity of his concerns, and the consequent distraction 
 of effort and energy. Those educators, therefore, who 
 
64 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 advocate a vocabulary of 2,000 or 2,200 words in the be 
 ginner's book seem to me to be guided by unsound con- 
 victions. It is perfectly true, as these persons urge, thai 
 the lack of vocabulary is the one great impediment tc 
 more extensive and more rapid reading of Latin ; but the 
 great question after all is how best to secure an exten- 
 sive and accurate knowledge of the words one is likely 
 to meet in reading. Are we likely to succeed by dint of 
 a heroic effort at the outset when other and more serious 
 difficulties are encountering us at every turn? Is it not 
 better to restrict ourselves to other things in the begin- 
 ning work, and leave the vocabulary for the later stages 
 of the study? Seven hundred words have been shown 
 by experience to be amply sufficient to lend variety and 
 interest to the work, and, by the abundant repetition of 
 the same words, to ensure that this small vocabulary 
 will be thoroughly mastered. But even this mastery 
 should hardly be made a conspicuous object. Probably 
 most pupils will inevitably become familiar with all or 
 nearly all the words of a vocabulary of that size by the 
 mere frequency with which the words recur. Any 
 effective vocabulary will certainly always be gained in 
 that way, i. e. by reading and frequently meeting the 
 same words used again and again in the same senses. 
 Nothing but wide reading can bring about this result, 
 and to read widely while pursuing the beginning work is 
 a contradiction in terms. 
 
 To sum up, then, on this subject of the beginner's 
 
 book, I feel convinced that most existing beginner's 
 
 books make a profound psychological mis- 
 
 Stunmary. j. ./ o 
 
 take m combining the contemporaneous 
 study of forms and syntax from the outset; in disso- 
 ciating not merely the different declensions and con- 
 jugations, but even the different parts of the same 
 declension and the same conjugation; in dissociating 
 
THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 6S 
 
 related syntactical constructions; furthermore (as a 
 result of these dissociations), in teaching the elements 
 of the language to the pupil in an order that must be 
 unlearned and mentally rearranged so soon as a syste- 
 matic study of the Latin Grammar is begun ; lastly, in 
 laying stress upon the writing of Latin before the forms 
 are mastered, — an exercise which can primarily be of 
 value only in inculcating a better knowledge of syntax, 
 and is of the very slightest aid, if not a positive detri- 
 ment, in acquiring a knowledge of the forms themselves. 
 When to all these defects is added, as in some books of 
 the class referred to, a very large vocabulary, we have 
 the climax of unwisdom applied to the teaching of 
 elementary Latin. Reason seems to me to show us that 
 in approaching a difficult subject the logical way is not 
 to attempt to master all its difficulties at once, not to 
 undertake from the outset to cope with every species of 
 obstacle, howsoever heterogeneous these may be; but 
 rather to choose for the object of first attack that side of 
 the subject whose knowledge is indispensable to further 
 advance, to master this, and then proceed to the next 
 thing, building in orderly systematic fashion, doing one 
 thing at a time and doing that honestly, conserving 
 energy, cHnging definitely to a purpose, and making 
 that purpose obvious to the pupil instead of involving 
 him in a blind maze, out of which nothing but a supreme 
 act of faith can afford any hope of ever emerging. Per- 
 sonally I believe the pupil should first address himself 
 to the forms, and devote himself to nothing else until 
 they are completely mastered. I believe too that these 
 should be studied practically in the order given in the 
 Grammar,^ illustrated of course by copious sentences for 
 
 1 Bonus and other adjectives of the first and second declensions may 
 well enough follow nouns of the first and second declensions. I can 
 think of no other justifiable deviation. 
 
 S 
 
66 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 translation. Until the forms are mastered, syntax, I am 
 convinced, should be kept in the background, beyond 
 the introduction of the commonest syntactical principles, 
 such as the case for subject, object, predicate noun, 
 appositive, the agreement of the adjective with its sub- 
 stantive, and of the relative with its antecedent. The 
 writing of Latin, too, should be deferred at least till 
 syntax is reached, and if it is deferred till after the first 
 rough outline of elementary syntax is acquired, it will 
 involve no harm. The vocabulary should be brief; seven 
 or eight hundred words, exclusive of proper names, are 
 ample for the beginning work. These, too, should be 
 common words, and as concrete as possible; words, 
 too, employed in their original senses, not in derived 
 ones. 
 
 II. Pronunciation. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Bennett, Chas. E. Appendix to Bennett's Latin Grammar, pp. 4-68. 
 Boston. Allyn & Bacon. 1895. 
 
 Lindsay, W. M. The Latin Language, Chapter ii. Oxford. Claren- 
 don Press. 1894. 
 
 Xiindsay, W. M. Historical Latin Grammar, pp. 8-21. Oxford. 
 Clarendon Press. 1895. 
 
 Seelmann, Emil. Die Aussprache des Latin. Heilbronn. 1885. 
 
 Ellis, Kobinson. The Quantitative Pronunciation of Latin. Lon- 
 don. 1874. A discussion of special problems. 
 
 Koby, H. J. Latin Grammar. Vol. I., 4th ed. pp. xxx-xc. London. 
 Macmillan & Co. i88i. 
 
 It is now something like twenty years since the so- 
 called Roman or quantitative pronunciation of Latin was 
 The Roman ^'■^^ generally introduced into the schools 
 Pi-onuncia- and colleges of this country. Prior to that, 
 most schools and colleges had used the Eng- 
 lish pronunciation ; some few employed a pronunciation 
 called the ' continental.' This last, however, was not 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 6j 
 
 one pronunciation, but several; in the sounds of the 
 vowels it adhered to their prevailing pronunciation in 
 the languages of continental Europe, but the sounds of 
 certain consonants, namely, c,g, t,j, s, were rendered with 
 much variety. Both the English and continental pro- 
 nunciations still survive in this country, though prob- 
 ably the two together are not represented by five per 
 cent of the Latin pupils of the secondary schools ; in 
 the colleges the percentage must be lower still. 
 
 By the Roman pronunciation is, of course, meant 
 the pronunciation employed by the ancient Romans 
 themselves. This pronunciation naturally varied much 
 at different periods ; ^ hence it has been necessary to 
 take the pronunciation of some well-defined epoch as 
 a standard. The epoch conventionally adopted for this 
 purpose is the golden age of Rome's literary greatness, 
 — roughly the period from 50 B. C. to 50 A. D. Inas- 
 much as many intelligent and otherwise well- Evidence for 
 informed persons, including teachers of Latin, the Roman 
 often cherish and express a skepticism as to 
 the grounds on which scholars have presumed to recon- 
 struct the pronunciation of a dead language like Latin, 
 it may be well here briefly to indicate the nature of the 
 evidence which supports this Roman pronunciation of 
 Latin. The evidence may be brought under five heads. 
 
 a. TAe statements of Roman writers. To a person 
 unaware of the writings of the old Latin grammarians 
 from the first to the eighth centuries of our -gj^^^ 
 era, the body of their works will be surprising. Grammari- 
 These works have been carefully collected 
 by Keil, a German scholar, under the title Grammatici 
 
 1 Thus V, to take but a single letter for the purposes of illustration, 
 was pronounced as English w down to about 100 A. D. ; later it became 
 a bilabial spirant (a sound not occurring in English); and finally (5th 
 century A. D.) it passed into the labio dental spirant, English v. 
 
68 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 Laiini (heipzlg, 1855-1880), and fill eight large quarto 
 volumes. These writers cover the entire field of gram- 
 mar, and most of them devote more or less space to 
 a systematic consideration of the sounds of the letters. 
 As representative writers on this subject, may be cited 
 Terentianus Maurus (flourished 185 A. D.) ; Marius 
 Victorinus (fl. 350 A. D.) ; Martianus Capella (fourth 
 or fifth century A. D. ; not in Keil's collection) ; Priscian 
 (fl. 500A. D.). Even the classical writers have often 
 incidentally contributed valuable bits of information ; 
 <?. £■. Varro, Cicero, Quintilian. 
 
 b. Inscriptions furnish a second important source of 
 information. The total body of these is very great. 
 
 The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, in pro- 
 Inscnptions. ^ , ,. . . , 
 
 cess of publication since 1803, consists al- 
 ready of fifteen large folio volumes, some of them in 
 several parts, and is not yet completed. These inscrip- 
 tions disclose many peculiarities of orthography which 
 are exceedingly instructive for the pronunciation of 
 Latin. Thus such spellings as urps and pleps by the 
 side of urbs and plebs clearly indicate the assimilation 
 oi b Xo p before s. Similarly termae, aetereas, etc., show 
 clearly that at the time these inscriptions were cut th 
 was still practically a ^-sound, and forbid us to attach 
 to it the value of English th as heard in either this or 
 thin. Even the blunders of the masons who cut the 
 inscriptions are not infrequently exceedingly instructive. 
 
 c. Greek transliterations of Latin words constitute a 
 third source of knowledge. Not only Greek writers 
 Greek Trans- (especially the Greek historians of Roman 
 merauons. affairs), but also Greek inscriptions, afford 
 us abundant evidence of this kind. Thus the Greek 
 KiKepav (Cicero) furnishes support for the ./^-sound of 
 Latin c; while AiovCa (^Livid) and OvaXevTia {Valentia) 
 bear similarly upon the w-sound of Latin v. The 
 
PRONUNCIATION 69 
 
 inscriptions are naturally much more trustworthy guides 
 in this matter than our texts of the Greek authors, for 
 we can never be sure that the MSS. have not undergone 
 alterations in the process of transmission to modern 
 times. 
 
 d. The Romance languages also (French, Spanish, 
 Italian, etc.), within limits, may be utilized Romance 
 
 in determining the sounds of Latin. langnages. 
 
 e. The sound-changes of Latin itself, as atialyzed by 
 etymological investigation. Modern scholars, particu- 
 larly in the last forty years, have done much 
 
 to promote the scientific study of Latin sounds ' " ''^' 
 and forms ; their researches have thrown no little light 
 upon the sounds of Latin. 
 
 As a result of all these sources of knowledge,-' any 
 one who will patiently review the evidence may easily 
 assure himself that the Roman pronunciation rests upon 
 a solid historical foundation, and is not a flimsy product 
 of the imagination. As to certain points, the evidence 
 is, of course, conflicting, and as a result the opinions of 
 scholars diverge. Doubtless, too, there existed certain 
 refinements of pronunciation which will always remain 
 unknown to us. But it cannot be denied that we can 
 to-day restore in its essential features the pronunciation 
 of Latin substantially as the Romans spoke it. 
 
 Admission has just been made above of our inability 
 to establish with certainty all the various refinements 
 of pronunciation which must have existed in Latin. 
 An exception must be made, however, in Hidden 
 regard to one point, — " hidden quantity." A Quantity, 
 hidden quantity is the quantity of a vowel before two 
 consonants. Such a quantity is called hidden as dis- 
 tinguished from the quantity of a vowel before a single 
 
 1 The detailed evidence will be found in tlie books above cited. 
 
70 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 consonant, where the employment of the word in verse 
 at once indicates whether the vowel is long or short.^ 
 
 The determination of these hidden quantities is obvi- 
 ously of great importance if we would secure an accU' 
 rate pronunciation of Latin. In a modern language the 
 pronunciation of a long vowel for a short, or vice versa, 
 will often effectually disguise a word.^ At first sight 
 the determination of these multitudinous hidden quanti- 
 ties seems a well-nigh insuperable difficulty. Scholarly 
 research has, however, succeeded in definitely settling 
 most of them.' The evidence is as follows: 
 
 a. Express testimony of the ancient Roman writers. 
 Thus, for example, Cicero {Orator, 48. 159) lays down 
 the general principle that all vowels are long before nf 
 and US. Nearly every Roman grammarian furnishes 
 some little direct testimony of this kind. 
 
 b. The versification of the early Roman dramatists, 
 particularly Plautus and Terence. These writers fre- 
 
 ^ Thus in the hexameter line beginning conspexere silent, the metre 
 clearly shows that the i of silent is short ; for if the vowel were here 
 long, the syllable would be long. But the e of silent might be either 
 long or short. All that the metre shows is that the jy/ZaW^ is long ; it 
 tells us nothing about the vowel, and we cannot (at least not by mere 
 inspection of the verse) determine whether we should pronounce e or /. 
 Hence we call the quantity of the vowel in such cases hidden. Pupil 
 and teacher alike should always guard carefully against the prevalent 
 confusion of quantity of vowel with quantity of syllable. Before a single 
 consonant the quantity of the vowel and syllable are, of course, always 
 identical, /. e. if the vowel is long, the syllable is also long, but before two 
 consonants, while the syllable is long, the vowel itself may be either long 
 or short, and must be pronounced long or short according to its actual 
 quantity. 
 
 ^ Were one to speak of a wick as a weke, or a pool as a pall, the 
 metathesis would be the same as In Latin when one says victor for 
 victor ; or Ustus for iislus. I remember that in German my pronunciation 
 of Kloster as KlSster ; Mond as MSnd ; and WUste as Wiiste, all com- 
 pletely nonplussed my listeners. 
 
 ' A detailed discussion of the principles for hidden quantity, along 
 with a full list of words whose hidden vowels are long, may be found in 
 Bennett, Appendix to Latin Grammar, pp. 34-68. 
 
PRONUNCIATION 7 1 
 
 quently employ as short many syllables which in classi- 
 cal poetry would invariably be long by position. In 
 many of these cases it is manifest that the short syllable 
 quantity is owing to the fact that the vowel was short 
 and that the two following consonants somehow failed to 
 • make position.' 
 
 c. Inscriptions. Various modes of spelling and various 
 diacritical marks were in vogue to indicate long vowels. 
 Thus from 1 30-70 B. C. we find the vowels a, e, u written 
 double, when it was desired to indicate their long quan- 
 tity, e. g. paastores, pequlatuu, etc. Long i was in early 
 times often written ei, e.g. veixit. Beginning with the 
 middle of the first century B. C. we find the apex (or 
 accent mark) set over the vowels a, e, 0, u, while long i 
 was now designated by an I rising above the other 
 letters and called i longa. Later, i also took the apex. 
 Examples are: trdxi, 6lla, Uctus, jAncta, qvInqve, 
 prtsctis. 
 
 d. Greek transliterations of Latin words. This method 
 is most fruitfully applied in case of the vowels e and 0. 
 The employment of Greek e or 77, or a, makes the 
 quantity of the Latin vowel certain, wherever faith may 
 be reposed in the accuracy of the transcription. Thus 
 we write Esquiliae in view of 'Ho-kuXji/o?, Strabo, v. 234; 
 Vergilius after OvepyiXio'; ; Vesontio after Ove<T0VTimv, 
 Dio Cassius, Ixviii. 24. The quantity of i also may often 
 be determined by Greek transliterations. Thus ei regu- 
 larly points to Latin f, e. g. Beiy}rdvio<; = Vipsdnius; 
 Greek i points to Latin t, e. g. la-rpo'; = Ister. 
 
 e. Tke vocalism of the Romance languages, particu- 
 larly the Spanish and Italian. These languages treated 
 e, i, 0, u with great regularity according to the natural 
 length of the vowel in Latin. Latin e and o were close 
 vowels ; e and were open. The Romance languages 
 have preserved these original vowel qualities with great 
 
^2 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 tenacity. Hence Italian crescere with close e justifies our 
 writing cresco for Latin ; while Italian honesto with open 
 e points to Latin hotiestus. Similarly Italian noscere with 
 close o justifies our writing nosed for Latin, while ItaHan 
 dotto with open o points to Latin doctus. In the same 
 way Latin l and u remained i and u in Romance, while 
 i and H became respectively close e and close o. Thus 
 from Italian dissi we infer Latin dlxl ; from Italian dtissi, 
 Latin duxi ; while detto with close e points to Latin 
 dictus, and -dotto with close o to Latin ductjis. This 
 method of determining the hidden quantity of Latin 
 vowels from the Romance has been applied most fruit- 
 fully in recent years. 
 
 As a result of the application of the five methods 
 above described, there remain at present extremely 
 few undetermined hidden vowel quantities in Latin 
 words. Some slight divergence of opinion still exists 
 among investigators as to the quantity of certain vowels ; 
 but this divergence is exceedingly slight, vastly less, 
 in fact, than for any corresponding number of Eng- 
 lish words. Professors Greenough and Howard in the 
 preface to their Allen and Greenough! s Shorter Latin 
 Grammar, p. iv, speak of this matter of hidden quanti- 
 ties as a subject still in its infancy. Such is far from 
 being the case. Of the five methods above enumerated 
 of arriving at a knowledge of hidden quantities, each one 
 has already been utilized to practically the fullest extent 
 of which it is capable. The works of the Roman gram- 
 marians and other Roman writers have been systemati- 
 cally searched, and their testimonies recorded and sifted ; 
 the versification of the Roman dramatists has been care- 
 fully studied with specific reference to this very point ; 
 the great body of Latin inscriptions has been conscien- 
 tiously examined, and all instances of the use of the 
 apex or I longa have been gathered and classified by 
 
PRONUNCIATION 73 
 
 C\\ns^\z.nsen {De apicibus et I longis. Husum, 1889); the 
 form assumed by Latin words in Greek transliterations 
 has been carefully studied for the body of Greek in- 
 scriptions by Eckinger {Orthograpkie lateinischer Worter 
 in griechischen Inschriften. Munich. Without date; 
 about 1893); and, lastly, the testimony derivable from 
 the Romance languages has been most minutely exam- 
 ined in a series of publications : Grober, Vidgdrlatein- 
 ische Substrata roinanischer Worter, a series of articles 
 in Wolfflin's Archiv fiir lateinische Lexikographie , vols, 
 i.-vi. ; Korting, Lateinisch-Romanisches Worterbuch, 
 Paderborn, 1891; d'Ovidio, in Grober' s Gnmdiss der 
 romaniscken Philologie, Strassburg, 1888, i. p. 497 ff. 
 The authors of these last three works have not merely 
 taken into consideration the leading literary Romance 
 languages, but they have gleaned from the most obscure 
 dialects whatever contribution these could offer. 
 
 A.11 in all, it is not probable that we shall ever know 
 the quantities of hidden Latin vowels appreciably better 
 than we do to-day, for it is unlikely either that new 
 sources of knowledge on this subject will be discovered, 
 or that further study of the existing sources will yield re- 
 sults which will materially alter our present conclusions. 
 
 I have been speaking thus far of the Roman pronun- 
 ciation as a subject of historical and linguistic interest. 
 It remains to say a word as to its adaptation .^^ Roman 
 to the needs of our American education ; and Prommciation 
 here I wish at the outset to declare frankly ASandoned — 
 my conviction that the introduction of the seasons. 
 Roman pronunciation was a fundamental blunder, and 
 that its retention is likewise a serious mistake. My 
 reasons follow: 
 
 a. The Roman pronunciation is extremely difficult. 
 This is sometimes denied, but only by superficial ob- 
 
74 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 servers. Such persons call attention to the fact that, 
 under the Roman pronunciation, c, g, t, s are 
 always uniform in pronunciation, whereas by 
 the English method the sounds of these letters vary and 
 depend upon rules. This, however, is a very slight con- 
 sideration; for c,g, t, s under the English pronunciation 
 vary in accordance with the normal mode of pronounc- 
 ing the same letters in English words. Thus we instinc- 
 tively pronounce ^^^zw as 7>^-««i',/ro^?V«« as propishus, 
 after familiar English analogy. What makes the 
 Roman pronunciation of Latin really difficult is the 
 quantity of the vowels. So far as these belong to 
 inflectional endings, e. g. -i, -drum, -os, -as, -drum, -ibus, 
 -dbam, -ebam, -ero, -eram, etc., they can be learned as 
 easily by one pronunciation as the other. But even 
 when the pupil has acquired a knowledge of these, there 
 remains the multitude of vowels in the interior of words, 
 — -in root syllables, in stems, and in suffixes. Here 
 nothing but sheer force of memory can enable any one to 
 become master of the vast number of vowels to be pro- 
 nounced. Even the same root often varies, e. g. fldo, 
 but fides ; fidelis, but fidiis. Some few general prin- 
 ciples can, of course, be given, but there remain literally 
 thousands of vowels that must be learned outright and 
 retained by memory alone ; e. g. stUdium, gero, vitium, 
 modus, sexdgintd, senex, video, Idtus (' side'), but Idtus, 
 ('broad '),ferus, etc., etc., etc. To these must be added 
 hidden vowel quantities by the hundreds ; e. g. frustrd, 
 cessi, scrlpsi, tinxi, missus, ustus, icssi, lux, niix, dux, 
 nex, lex, usque, rostrum., noster, sisto, sistrum, mdximus, 
 luctus, flUctus, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 Even the consonants create difficulty, particularly the 
 doubled consonants ; e. g. pp, tt, cc, II, mm, ss, etc. In 
 English we pronounce these singly. Thus we say fery, 
 though we write ferry ; kity, where we write kitty. But 
 
PRONUNCIATION 75 
 
 in Latin we know that these doubled consonants were 
 regularly pronounced double, just as they are in modern 
 Italian. A distinct effort is necessary to achieve this 
 pronunciation. 
 
 Another point of difficulty is the proper division of 
 words into syllables. Recent researches have shown 
 that our traditional rules for syllable division, though 
 they rest upon the express testimony of the Latin 
 grammarians, were purely mechanical directions, and 
 did not indicate the actual pronunciation.' The actual 
 division, moreover, must have been quite different from 
 that which prevails in English under corresponding con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Lastly, we have the difficulty of the Latin accent. It 
 is beyond question that Latin was less heavily stressed 
 than are the accented syllables in our English speech. 
 
 All these difficulties are really so great that anything 
 like an accurate pronunciation of Latin under the 
 Roman system is practically impossible except by the 
 sacrifice of an amount of time out of all proportion to 
 the importance of the end to be attained. As a matter 
 of fact, few teachers and practically no pupils ever do 
 acquire a pronunciation of any exactness. Out of some 
 twelve hundred freshmen whom I have tested on this 
 point in the last dozen years at two leading American 
 universities I have never found one who could mark ten 
 lines of Caesar's Gallic War with substantial quantitative 
 accuracy. Nor is this all. For eight years I have con- 
 ducted summer courses for teachers at Cornell Uni- 
 versity. This work has been attended by some two 
 hundred teachers and college professors, nearly all of 
 them college graduates, and many of them persons who 
 had had graduate work at our best universities. Yet few 
 
 1 See the discussion in Bennett, Appendix to Bennett's Latin Gram 
 mar, p. 30 ff. 
 
76 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 of these have ever shown any thorough grasp of the 
 Roman pronunciation, and most of them have exhibited 
 deplorable ignorance of the first principles of its accurate 
 application. Even college professors of eminence often 
 frankly admit their own ignorance of vowel quantity and 
 proclaim their despair of ever acquiring a knowledge 
 of it. It is not long since I Hstened to a professor of 
 high position who gave at an educational meeting an 
 illustration of his method of reading Latin poetry. 
 The reading was prefaced with the candid declaration 
 that the reader had never pretended to acquire an 
 accurate knowledge of Latin vowel quantities and de- 
 spaired of ever succeeding in doing so. The reading 
 which followed proved the correctness of this state- 
 ment. The opening line of Horace, Odes, i. 23, was 
 read thus: 
 
 Vitas inuleo me simflls Chloe, 
 
 and was followed by similar violations of vocalic and 
 syllabic quantity. 
 
 It is safe to say that only those who have devoted 
 long and patient attention to the subject, and who 
 practise frequent oral reading, can pronounce Latin 
 with accuracy according to the Roman method. My 
 observation teaches me that those who ever attain this 
 accomplishment are so few in number as to constitute 
 practically a negligible quantity. 
 
 The foregoing practical considerations, based upon 
 the inherent difficulties of the Roman pronunciation, 
 coupled with the practically universal failure to adhere 
 to its principles, have long seemed to my mind valid 
 grounds for its abandonment. Those who urge its 
 retention on the ground of its ease certainly are inex- 
 cusably blind to the facts. Those who advocate it on 
 the ground that it is a moral duty to pronounce Latin 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 77 
 
 as the Romans did, may theoretically have a good case. 
 But certainly it can no longer be held to be a moral 
 duty to maintain a system of pronunciation which the 
 experience of twenty years has shown to result in 
 miserable failure, and the intrinsic difficulties of whose 
 accurate application are so evident. We cannot hope, 
 I believe, to secure appreciably better results than have 
 thus far been achieved, certainly not without the ex- 
 penditure of a vast amount of time and energy, which 
 can ill be spared. 
 
 b. // brings no compensating advantages. This state- 
 ment will doubtless provoke dissent, and some may wish 
 to urge that the acquisition of the vocalic Brings no 
 sounds of the Roman pronunciation of Latin compensating 
 is of assistance in the study of the modern 
 European languages. But this can hardly be deemed 
 a serious argument. Some of the Latin vowels and 
 diphthongs designate identical sounds in French and 
 German, but quite as often they are different ; e. g. 
 French a, u, eu, ei, ai, oi ; German ae, eu, ei. Moreover, 
 the apprehension of these constitutes an exceedingly 
 slight difficulty. 
 
 Others urge the importance of the quantitative pro- 
 nunciation of Latin for the reading of Latin poetry; 
 and here, if anywhere, we might recognise a valid 
 reason for the retention of the Roman pronunciation, 
 if only our pupils acquired, or could reasonably be ex- 
 pected to acquire, an accurate quantitative pronuncia- 
 tion of the Latin language, and if they combined with 
 this any just conception of the truly quantitative nature 
 of Latin poetry.^ But so long as the prevailing pro- 
 nunciation is practically oblivious of the difference 
 between long and short vowels, and so long as we 
 
 1 See below, chapter vi., Latin Prosody. 
 
78 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 follow the traditional practice of making Latin poetry 
 accentual, it is idle to support the retention of the 
 Roman pronunciation on the grounds that it contrib- 
 utes to a capacity to appreciate Latin poetry in its 
 true organic and artistic structure. A rigidly accurate 
 quantitative pronunciation will do this, provided we 
 eliminate the unjustifiable artificial stress ictus, but our 
 present proficiency in the Roman pronunciation, or any 
 proficiency we are ever likely to achieve, will hardly 
 enable any considerable fraction of our students ever 
 to appreciate Latin poetry as a quantitative rhythm. 
 
 c. It does bring certain distinct disadvantages. Chief 
 among these is the difficulty it adds to the beginning 
 Disadvantages. '^^''^ ''^ Latin. I am forced to believe that 
 the acquisition of the forms is very much 
 easier under the English pronunciation, where the entire 
 energy of the pupil can be devoted to the forms them- 
 selves without the embarrassment which the difficulties 
 of a strange pronunciation inevitably impose. 
 
 Another serious disadvantage is the chaos it has 
 wrought in our current pronunciation of classical 
 proper names, Latin quotations, proverbs, technical 
 terms, legal phrases, titles of classical works, etc. It is 
 extremely difficult to reach any satisfactory basis for 
 pronouncing these. The Roman pronunciation seems 
 awkward and affected, and is to many unintelligible, 
 while to those who have been taught the Roman pronun- 
 ciation any other is difficult. The result is a condition 
 of affairs that is keenly felt by many classes of society, 
 — by none perhaps more than by the teachers of Latin, 
 who, while protesting against the present anarchy, find 
 themselves at a loss to effect any radical improvement. 
 
 The foregoing are the considerations which have for 
 years weighed with me, and which have finally com- 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 79 
 
 pelled me to believe that the retention of our present 
 unmethodical " method " of pronouncing Latin has 
 proved itself a serious mistake. Fifteen years ago my 
 zeal for the Roman pronunciation was unbounded. For 
 years I have been a conscientious student of the histori- 
 cal and linguistic evidence bearing upon this subject. 
 For years I cherished the hope that with time and 
 better teaching a decided improvement in the results 
 yielded by the Roman pronunciation would manifest 
 itself. But I am now convinced that no such advance 
 has been apparent, and that it will not, can not, ought 
 not to be. So long as we retain the Roman pronuncia- 
 tion, while nominally making that our standard, we 
 shall in reality be far from exempHfying that method in 
 our practice. We shall be guilty of pretending to do 
 one thing, while we really are doing something else. I 
 hesitate to believe that such disingenuousness can per- 
 manently commend itself to thoughtful teachers. I 
 have above mentioned the fact that certain educators 
 advocate the employment of the Roman pronunciation 
 on moral grounds, urging that it is our bounden duty 
 to apply what we know to be true. It is equally on 
 moral grounds (among others) that I would urge the 
 immediate abandonment of the Roman pronunciation. 
 We are not just to ourselves, we are not just to our 
 students, so long as we encourage the present hypo- 
 critical practice. The English pronunciation is at least 
 honest. It confessedly violates vowel quantity, though 
 I doubt whether it actually does so any more than the 
 Roman method as actually employed. But it is simple, 
 easily applied, and relieves the beginner especially of 
 one important element of difficulty and discouragement. 
 The educators of other countries have shown much 
 greater wisdom in this matter of Latin pronunciation 
 than have we. England and Germany have witnessed 
 
8o THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 efforts to introduce the Roman pronunciation, but the 
 sober conservative sense of German and English edu- 
 cators has thus far resisted, and probably will continue 
 successfully to resist, this unwise spirit of innovation. 
 In America we are unfortunately too prone to view with 
 favour any new idea, educational or other, and to em- 
 bark precipitately in experiments which involve serious 
 consequences. Undue pressure, I think, is often ex- 
 erted upon the schools by college teachers. Many of 
 these, in their enthusiasm for the scientific aspects of 
 their own professional work, exhibit a tendency to 
 demand that the teaching of their subject in the second- 
 ary schools shall be conducted with express reference 
 to the ultimate needs of the higher scholarship. This 
 attitude manifests itself in many matters of educational 
 policy connected with Latin, and in my judgment in- 
 volves great danger to the best interests of the schools. 
 The prime question in the teaching of every subject in 
 our schools should be the present educational needs of 
 the pupils. Pedagogical procedure should be governed 
 by these considerations. In other words, pupils do not 
 exist for Latin, but Latin exists for the pupils. The 
 needs, real or fancied, of the higher scholarship have no 
 claim to consideration as compared with the rational 
 satisfaction of the pupils' present interests. 
 
 HI. The "Inductive" Method. 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Cauer, Paul. Grammatica Militans, 1898. Chapter ii. " Induktion 
 und Deduktion." 
 
 Wenzel, Alfred. Der Todeskampf des altsprachlichen Unterrichts. 
 Berlin. Carl Duncker's Verlag. 1899. pp. 19-41. 
 
 A discussion of the " Inductive " Method may seem 
 somewhat academic. At present certainly in this 
 
THE '-INDUCTIVE" METHOD 8 1 
 
 country such a discussion is no longer a practical one. 
 Books constructed professedly on an inductive plan 
 have met with severe criticism, and those specimens of 
 them which have thus far been offered to the educa- 
 tional public have been, I think, quite generally rec- 
 ognised as involving serious pedagogical defects. Still, 
 fairness compels the admission that the so-called " induc- 
 tive " method has not yet had a fair trial upon the basis 
 of its own merits. The radical defects of the " induc- 
 tive " Latin books for beginners which I have known 
 have seemed to me to lie not so much in the inherent 
 weakness of the method professedly followed as in some 
 other features. Harper and Burgess's Inductive Latin 
 Primer will serve to illustrate what I mean. The 
 defects of this book in my judgment are fairly rep- 
 resented by the type of beginner's books which were 
 under discussion in an earlier part of this chapter, 
 pp. 51-66. We note the same unsystematic arrange- 
 ment, the same dissociation of things belonging together, 
 the same mistaken endeavour to teach a little of every- 
 thing at one time, which we considered above. These 
 defects seem to me so serious as to have prevented the 
 possibility of a fair judgment upon the merits of the 
 feature which has given the title to the book, namely, its 
 so-called " inductive " character. 
 
 In order to understand what this feature promises for 
 Latin instruction, let us examine precisely what it in- 
 volves. The essential feature of the method .^^^^^ ^^ 
 receives illustration in the opening lesson of "inductive" 
 the book referred to. Its essence seems to '"**^°* *=• 
 consist in giving an illustration of a principle, and en- 
 couraging the pupil to deduce the principle from the 
 illustration. Thus it is pointed out that Gallia is 
 accented on the first syllable, dlvisa, omnls, partes, on 
 the second, and from these facts the pupil is to study 
 
 6 
 
82 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 out the principles of accentuation. So with the othei 
 facts and principles of the language. Instead of the 
 statement of a principle followed by an illustration of it, 
 the pupil is to work out and determine the principle for 
 himself by observation and reflection. The plan rep- 
 The Name resents, therefore, a definite educational the- 
 a Misnomer, ory. The name " inductive," however, seems 
 a thorough misnomer. Any proper induction (in any 
 sense of the word with which I am familiar) consists in 
 bringing together all the facts or, at least, all the possi- 
 ble types of facts bearing upon some one problem, and 
 then determining from these the principle which they 
 prove. In the book before us, the pupil is given to 
 understand that the facts are typical ; hence he really 
 institutes no truly inductive process ; ^ he merely inter- 
 prets the meaning of an example which some one else 
 by processes truly inductive has discovered to be typical. 
 This inaccuracy of nomenclature, however, does not bear 
 vitally upon the merits of the method, except so far as 
 it may mislead both teacher and pupil to believe they are 
 pursuing a severer mental process than is really the case. 
 The purpose of the method, such as it is, may be pre- 
 sumed to be the stimulating of the pupil's observational 
 and reflective powers. Whether it be wise to 
 of Question- utilize the beginning Latin work for this pur- 
 abie Wis- pose seems open to serious question. Per- 
 sonally I have had no experience with this 
 method of learning the elements of the language, — 
 particularly the accidence ; but the experience of those 
 
 1 The process, in fact, is a truly deductive one. Formally, it amounts 
 to this : I. The example before us illustrates a universal principle. 
 2. The example before us illustrates the following truth (e. g. that the 
 subject of the infinitive stands in the accusative case, or that adjectives of 
 fulness are construed with the genitive). 3. Therefore it is a universal 
 principle that the subject of the infinitive stands in the accusative, or 
 that adjectives of fulness are construed with the genitive. 
 
THE ''INDUCTIVE" METHOD 83 
 
 who have attempted to apply it has impressed me with 
 the belief that it is neither effective nor economical. 
 The later study of Latin is so rich in the opportunities 
 It affords for the cultivation of the observational and 
 reflective powers, that it seems safer to defer for the 
 first three or four months of Latin study any special 
 attention to these ends. It certainly will be not only 
 safe, but a positive duty, to do this, unless experience 
 can show that this so-called " inductive " method of 
 learning the sounds, accentuation, forms, and inflections 
 of Latin is an easier and briefer way of mastering them. 
 That experience ever will show this, I doubt. Obser- 
 vation and reason have never proved very helpful 
 assistants in memorizing any large body of facts, such 
 as the forms of a highly inflected language. Reason, I 
 fear, hinders rather than helps in such a task. Such a 
 task seems to me rather a function of the retentive 
 memory, a faculty whose importance we have lately 
 shown such a mistaken tendency to ignore. An exclu- 
 sive cultivation of the memory at the expense of the 
 other faculties is certainly most deplorable. But mem- 
 ory has its important functions, and it is to be hoped 
 that in avoiding the abuse of this faculty we may not be 
 betrayed into ignoring and neglecting its legitimate 
 utilization. 
 
 In his Grammatica Militans, Paul Cauer, one of the 
 soberest and most thoughtful of German classical edu- 
 cators, thus expresses himself on the subject caner's 
 of the " Inductive " Method as its workings Criticisms, 
 have been observed by him in German schools (Chapter 
 ii. : " Induktion und Deduktion," p. 25) : " In the exact 
 sciences, all know how difiicult — not to say impossible 
 — it is to establish a complete inductive proof, and 
 how difficult it is to avoid the errors which are neces- 
 sarily involved in the limited material at one's disposal. 
 
84 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 Yet in the school in studying grammar, after three/ 
 four, or, if you will, ten examples have been adduced, 
 the pupil IS encouraged to conclude, ' Therefore it is 
 always true that, etc' Instead of this, the teacher 
 should always remind the pupil that no proof has really 
 been adduced, and that the principle to which attention 
 has been called in one or two examples has been estab- 
 lished by the labours of scholars who have carefully 
 examined the literary monuments of the Greek and 
 Latin languages. . . . Otherwise there is propagated 
 by teaching, instead of the blessings of an inductive 
 process, merely the tendency to precipitate generaliza- 
 tion, — a tendency always too natural, — as illustrated in 
 the case of the Englishman who returned from Heidel- 
 berg with the conviction that it always rained there, since 
 he had twice so found it. . , . The passage from the 
 particular to the general, from fact to law, is not the only 
 method of acquiring new knowledge ; the reverse process 
 is equally justified. . . . Which process is best, must be 
 decided in each special case by the nature of the subject." 
 As regards "inductive" treatment of the forms, Cauer 
 Cp. 26) says : " In the first weeks of the study of a new 
 language the pupil is inspired with a burning zeal for 
 learning much ; he has a veritable hunger for extensive 
 acquisition. The teacher should gratify this disposi- 
 tion ; he should utilize it, and not weary the pupils 
 with a method which is in place only where one is 
 reviewing matter already familiar for the purpose of 
 discovering the laws to which it conforms. Later also 
 in the syntax there are many instances in which it is 
 both simpler and more instructive to derive the truth 
 from the nature of the subject under discussion rather 
 than from observation." 
 
 1 Our American books have mostly contented themselves with one. 
 
READING AT SIGHT 85 
 
 IV. Reading at Sight. 
 
 'Reading at sight' is used in two senses; in one 
 sense it designates the reading of a passage from some 
 classical author in the original Latin in such -vyj^t ^ 
 a way as to appreciate and feel its content Means, 
 without translation mental or oral, but precisely as one 
 would feel a similar passage in one's own vernacular. 
 In the other sense ' reading at sight ' designates the trans- 
 lation into English of a passage never before seen. In 
 the discussion which follows I shall restrict the expres- 
 sion ' reading at sight ' to the first of these two senses,^ 
 and in later discussing the second process shall employ 
 the phrase ' translation at sight.' 
 
 With the appearance of Professor Hale's fascinating 
 and stimulating paper, The Art of Latin Reading (Bos- 
 ton, 1887), the suggestion was first definitely professor 
 put before teachers and pupils that by the Haie's 
 proper method of study it was possible at ^"°'' ^' 
 a relatively early stage of one's Latin study to learn to 
 apprehend even the more complex periods of Cicero's 
 orations as rapidly. as read by the eye or heard by the 
 ear. To acquire this power, Professor Hale recom- 
 mended habituating one's self from the very beginning 
 of Latin study to extensive oral reading. As the Latin 
 word-order constitutes one of the chief difficulties in 
 the comprehension of a Latin sentence, the pupil was 
 urged consciously to ask himself at each word of a new 
 sentence. Just what bearing or bearings may this word 
 have?, and holding his several conclusions in suspense 
 was bidden to press on to the end, precisely as in the 
 case of his own language. Faithful application of these 
 
 I It is, of course, obvious tliat the two processes are not necessarily 
 mutually exclusive. I separate them for the purposes of discussion. 
 
86 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 principles, it was promised, should enable the pupil, as 
 he progressed in his Latin study, to understand Latin 
 without the necessity of a translation. Professor Hale 
 included in his paper well-chosen illustrations of the way 
 the pupil's mind should act in attaining the promised 
 goal, and new visions of the millennium thrilled the 
 hearts of those who were so fortunate as to listen to 
 the original exposition of his views at the Conference 
 of Academic Principals held at Syracuse in December, 
 1886. 
 
 Since Professor Hale's pamphlet appeared (and inci- 
 dentally before that time),^ Professor Greenough has 
 Professor given forcible expression to views practically 
 Greenougi. identical with those presented by Professor 
 Hale. In the Preface to his edition of Eutropius (Bos- 
 ton, 1892) he thus concludes his remarks on this ques- 
 tion : " The essence of all this is, that to learn to read 
 a language the words must be taken as they come, 
 with the ideas they are supposed to convey, and must 
 be forced to make a mental picture in that order? 
 no matter whether the order is familiar or not."^ 
 More recently still the Commission of New England 
 Colleges has urged* that a very large amount of atten- 
 tion be paid to reading at sight in the new scheme of 
 instruction which they have lately recommended to the 
 secondary schools of New England for adoption. The 
 eminent standing of the advocates of the new theory 
 naturally claims for their views the most serious con- 
 sideration, and it is because I am not familiar with any 
 
 ^ For example, in the Introduction to his edition of Cicero's Orations. 
 Boston, 1886. 
 
 ^ The italics are mine. 
 
 8 Cf. also the similar tenor of Professor Flagg's remarks in the Preface 
 to his edition of Nepos. Boston, 1895. 
 
 * See the Report of their action in the School Review for December 
 1895. 
 
READING AT SIGHT 87 
 
 previous discussion of the subject that I venture here 
 
 to express some doubts as to the soundness and the 
 
 practical possibilities of the theories so confidently 
 
 championed. 
 
 A favourite appeal with those who lay stress upon the 
 
 importance of reading at sight is to the fact that children 
 
 in learning a language learn it not through 
 
 the medium of objective study and transla- Acquisition of 
 
 tion, but by direct interpretation of what they ^""'^ '•^- 
 
 guages. 
 hear or read. " Why," they ask, " should 
 
 not Latin and Greek be acquired in the same way?" 
 
 A proper answer to this question seems to involve the 
 consideration of two others ; first, What is the purpose 
 of Latin study in the secondary school ? and, purpose of 
 second, What is the nature of the intellectual '^^^ study, 
 training gained by acquiring a language in the subject- 
 ive way that is regular with children? 
 
 To the first of these two questions I can still see no 
 other answer than that which I undertook to formulate 
 and defend in the first chapter of this volume. As 
 there set forth, the only rational justification of the 
 study of Latin in our secondary schools seems to me 
 to be found in its unique effect in stimulating and ele- 
 vating the pupil's intellectual processes, and most of 
 all in the increased mastery over the resources of the 
 mother tongue which it confers. As previously main- 
 tained, these results come naturally from careful daily 
 translation under wise guidance. 
 
 In order properly to answer the second question, 
 namely, that as to the value of the subjective acquisition ^ 
 of a foreign language, the attainment of a capacity for 
 direct interpretation without the medium of translation, 
 let us assume that an American boy of ten goes abroad 
 and resides at Paris or Berlin. It is a familiar fact that 
 such a boy rapidly acquires a certain command of French 
 
88 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 or German. To the person who has no oral command 
 of those languages, the performance of such a youth 
 after a year's foreign residence would be impressive to a 
 degree. But what has the lad really acquired, and what 
 
 is the significance of his acquisition from the 
 tionaivah^' purely educational point of view? The actual 
 of subiective acquisition does not go beyond a capacity to 
 
 express the limited range of his ordinary 
 ideas. His vocabulary is small. As regards the edu- 
 cational worth of his new-found capacity, it has given 
 him no mental stimulus, no new powers of discrimina- 
 tion or analysis. Least of all has it given him any 
 increased mastery over his own native language. In 
 fact, as he has become subjectively familiar with a new 
 tongue, the chances are that he has proportionately lost 
 command of his own. Educationally apparently the 
 boy's new acquisition marks no positive intellectual 
 worthiessness g^*"> '^o'' could it fairly be expected to do 
 of Imitative so; for the process of acquisition has been 
 
 FF0C6SS6S 
 
 purely imitative, or practically so, and such 
 a boy might go on indefinitely, learning a new language 
 a year in the same way, without essentially strengthen- 
 ing his intellectual fibre or increasing his intellectual 
 range. Educational processes after the very earliest 
 years are no longer imitative. They are rather dis- 
 criminative and constructive. They must involve com- 
 parison and judgment, and no employment of the pupil's 
 attention which ignores this principle can be expected 
 to yield fruit of value. 
 
 Those, now, who insist so strenuously on the impor- 
 tance of the direct subjective interpretation of Latin at 
 the very outset of the study seem to me to advocate the 
 acquisition of something which in the first place can be 
 attained only by an imitative process, and which, if at- 
 tained, is not hkely to be of any greater educational 
 
READING AT SIGHT 89 
 
 utility than the capacity to understand colloquial French 
 or German which an American lad might acquire by a 
 moderate period of foreign residence. If, now, Latin is 
 to be retained as a basal subject of instruction in our 
 schools, is it desirable that the pupil be initiated at the 
 outset into a subjective apprehension of the language? 
 Would not the chief usefulness of Latin as an instrument 
 of intellectual discipline vanish the moment the mind 
 of the pupil passed from its objective to its subject- 
 ive contemplation? So soon as such a transition was 
 effected all need of translation would at once disappear, 
 and with it those minute and searching mental processes, 
 which now constitute the most important functions of 
 the study, and which give it its superior title to a place 
 in the curriculum of our schools. 
 
 Just so far then as reading at sight abridges atten- 
 tion to conscientious translation into idiomatic Eng- 
 lish, just so far must those who believe in the vitalizing 
 and informing influence of such translation believe that 
 reading at sight introduces into our secondary educa- 
 tion an element which is undesirable, — simply because 
 it interferes with what is desirable. 
 
 But it may be said by the advocates of reading at 
 sight, " No one disputes the value of translation. All 
 we maintain is that reading at sight furnishes a disci- 
 pline just as good or better, and hence equally entitled 
 to recognition." The vahdity of this last position seems 
 so questionable that we shall do well to examine it more 
 fully. The result which the exercise of Reading at Sight 
 aims to achieve is the subjective apprehension of the 
 language, a feeling for Latin as Latin. Obviously such 
 a result can be obtained for Latin only in the same way 
 as in case of other languages, namely, by imitative pro 
 cesses. Professor Hale and others urge, in fact, that the 
 beginning pupil put himself in the same attitude as the 
 
go THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 Roman boy of nineteen centuries ago. But was such a 
 process an educative one to the Roman boy? If it was 
 not, is it likely to be to the boy of to-day? Or if it be 
 claimed that to the Roman boy it was distinctively edu- 
 cative, why is not the acquisition of our own tongue in 
 precisely the same way of distinctively educative value, 
 and why does it not accomplish ideal results? It cannot 
 be too clearly borne in mind, I believe, that it is not the 
 knowing a language that is primarily of educational 
 utility. If that were so, the polyglot couriers and kell- 
 ners and portiers of the continental hotels ought to be 
 the most highly cultivated persons of contemporary 
 society. How many of them are able to speak with 
 fluency and accuracy four or five different languages ! 
 These men have learned English, French, German, 
 Italian in the very way that we are told is so desirable 
 for Latin. They feel English as English, French as 
 French, German as German, Italian as Itahan. No de- 
 tails of word-order trouble them. No necessity for even 
 a mental translation into terms of their own vernacular. 
 All is subjective, as it should be. The appeal is as direct 
 as was Cave canem ! to a Roman boy. And yet what 
 intellectual furtherance has ever come from such linguis- 
 tic attainments ? In fact, ought we to expect it to come ? 
 Must not such intellectual growth for pupils in the 
 secondary school come from processes of reflection and 
 comparison, rather than from those of imitation? Per- 
 sonally I am convinced that they must so come. And 
 so I say again : To interpret Latin directly, to feel it 
 as a Roman felt it, is a facility that can be acquired 
 (if at all) only as the Roman acquired it, namely, by 
 imitative processes ; and these processes do seem to be 
 lacking in any tonic educational value which warrants 
 their recognition as instruments of the secondary edu- 
 cation. 
 
READING AT SIGHT 9 1 
 
 But there are those who advocate the subjective acqui- 
 sition of Latin on other grounds, namely, aesthetic ones. 
 Is it worth while, they ask, for students to ^Esthetic 
 study Latin four years in the school, unless Grounds are 
 they acquire a feeling for Latin and learn to ^^^ ' 
 enjoy it? Now I have a regard for what is beautiful, and 
 I certainly believe in cultivating the aesthetic sense, but I 
 cannot bring myself to believe that the purpose of Latin 
 study is primarily an aesthetic one, and that the chief 
 goal is the attainment of a nice feeling for the cadence 
 and rhythm of the Latin sentence, so that the culmina- 
 tion of a four years' course shall be a capacity to revel 
 in the flow of Cicero's periods or in the long roll of the 
 hexameter, or, failing this, to be condemned to look 
 back upon wasted hours and neglected opportunities. 
 If that be true, why is it truer of Latin than of geometry ? 
 We hold up no such peculiar ideal for the latter study. To 
 reap value from geometry it is not thought necessary that 
 the pupil should feel a thrill of rapture over the contem- 
 plation of an isosceles triangle or an inscribed hexagon. 
 Why should we magnify the aesthetic aim of feeling 
 Latin any more than feeling geometry? There might 
 possibly be reason for so doing, did Latin offer oppor- 
 tunities for culture in no other way. But will any one 
 seriously maintain such a thesis ? 
 
 There are still others who are incessant in their asser- 
 tion that it is the reproach of Latin study that a youth 
 who has spent four years on Latin does not 
 acquire a sufficient mastery of the language suits of Latin 
 
 to enable him to read Latin with ease and study Defec- 
 tive, 
 speed, or to continue his study of Latin litera- 
 ture with pleasure and enthusiasm. It certainly is be- 
 yond question that the great majority of young men 
 when they reach college do not turn with relish to Latin, 
 and it is even truer that in after years they do not evince 
 
92 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 a disposition to beguile any considerable part of their 
 leisure in the perusal of Latin literature. This condition 
 of affairs I admit is beyond question. But what conclu- 
 sions are we justified in drawing from it? Have we a right 
 to assume that all young men when they enter college 
 ought to turn with avidity to the study of Latin ? Have we 
 a right to assume further that after graduation the proper 
 employment for one's leisure time is the continuation of 
 one's study of the classics? And with this assumption 
 as our major premise, have we a right to assume as our 
 minor premise that students would turn eagerly to Latin 
 in college, and that college graduates would assiduously 
 pursue the study of Latin literature, if only the capacity 
 for reading at sight were theirs ? We should then get 
 this syllogism : 
 
 1. All college students ought to study Latin with en- 
 thusiasm, and all college graduates ought to turn with 
 zest to the study of Latin literature. 
 
 2. If the persons referred to could read Latin at 
 sight they would do these things. 
 
 Therefore, all pupils should be taught to read at sight. 
 
 But with all my interest in Latin and all my convic- 
 tion of its abounding importance, both for discipline and 
 culture, yet I cannot assent to either of the two premises 
 just mentioned. 
 
 As a preparation for college, both reason and experi- 
 ence seem to me to show that Latin is not only the 
 best single instrument, but practically an indispensable 
 instrument; but for the average man in college I say 
 with all frankness I do not believe that extensive special- 
 ization in Latin is a sine qua non. The secondary edu- 
 cation is essentially disciplinary. The college cannot 
 afford, and does not pretend, to restrict its energies to 
 that goal. It aims at imparting breadth of view, it aims 
 at depth and soundness of knowledge in some few lines. 
 
READING AT SIGHT 93 
 
 Above all, it recognises the relation of the educated 
 man to the state and to society ; it recognises the neces- 
 sity of bringing the student into close and sympathetic 
 touch with the problems of modern hfe and thought. 
 Now, in the quest of this ideal the classics undoubtedly 
 have their part, but with all their usefulness and all 
 their pre-eminence they certainly do not contain the 
 bulk of the " best that has been thought and said," and 
 do not pretend to monopohze the field of culture. 
 Professed teachers of the classics ought to be the first 
 to realize this in theory, as I believe they actually do in 
 practice, so far as they make any impression on the 
 thought and action of to-day. 
 
 Let it not be thought for a moment that I believe 
 a liberally educated college man can dispense with 
 Latin or even safely with Greek in his college course, 
 but can we any longer say in candour — if indeed we 
 ever could — that these studies should form the chief 
 and central object of attention of the college student, 
 and that the test of his being on the right course is to 
 be found in the spontaneous enthusiasm with which he 
 addresses himself to their pursuit? 
 
 I have just been endeavouring to say that the college 
 student may, in my judgment, be making wise use of his 
 advantages for self-improvement even though he fail 
 to manifest that absorbing devotion to classics to which 
 I have referred. 
 
 I wish also to ask : Are there not other reasons, and 
 valid reasons, why the average educated man in college 
 and out should not be expected to evince a profound 
 absorption in Latin literature? How much of Latin is 
 primarily attractive to the average cultivated man? 
 What are the Latin authors to communion with which 
 such a man should be expected to apply his leisure? 
 Shall he devote it to Plautus and Terence with their 
 
94 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 scant dramatic variety and wearisome repetition of 
 brazen courtesan, tricky slave, simple father, and brag- 
 gart soldier? Shall he devote it to Cato and Varro, 
 with their old recipes of how to plant beans or the 
 best way to manure a field? Shall he devote it to 
 Lucretius even? Will the noble enthusiasm of that 
 writer and his occasional magnificent bursts of poetry 
 be compensation for the long and tedious discussion 
 of puerile physical and metaphysical theories? Even 
 when we come to Cicero, how many of that great writer's 
 works can be counted on to make an appeal to the 
 sympathy and intelligence of the average cultivated 
 man of to-day? He would be hardy who should say 
 that the proportion is large. The best of Virgil and 
 Horace, of Livy and Tacitus, has presumably been read 
 in school and college, and to these he will often return ; 
 but will he find strength and inspiration in the other 
 Augustan poets or in the later poetry of the imperial 
 era, overloaded as it is with mythological detail and 
 studied rhetorical embellishment? I am speaking of 
 the average educated man. For such a man I do not 
 hesitate to say that, when we consider the wealth of the 
 world's literature outside of Latin, when we consider 
 the masterpieces of the more recent centuries, many of 
 the greatest of them in our own language too, — when 
 we consider these, it seems to me that it is not to be 
 expected that Latin literature should assert any such 
 paramount claims. 
 
 To the special student of Latin the case is quite differ- 
 ent. The professional teacher will and must spare no 
 effort in familiarizing himself with all the literature, just 
 as he spares none in studying the history and growth 
 of the language, in tracing the development of institu- 
 tions, social, religious, and political. He will and must 
 endeavour to become saturated with ancient thought 
 
READING AT SIGHT 95 
 
 and life. But men of this equipment cannot be rela- 
 tively numerous, nor is it desirable for the interests of 
 modern society that they should be, any more than 
 that every man should be a profound physicist, a pro- 
 found chemist, or profound biologist. Of the two prem- 
 ises, then, which we undertook to examine, neither one 
 would seem to rest upon a basis sufficiently solid to 
 warrant its acceptance. Even did our freshmen bring 
 to college an ability to read Latin at sight, I cannot see 
 how it would alter or ought to alter the attention given 
 to Latin in college or after graduation, simply because 
 adequate reasons appear why Latin should not consti- 
 tute a more absorbing object of attention than it 
 actually does at present. When, therefore, Latin is 
 reproached because it fails to accomplish these ends, 
 it is pertinent to inquire whether the difficulty may not 
 be one inherent in Latin as a study, and not merely 
 the result of the traditional methods of Latin instruc- 
 tion in the schools, and also whether the ends which 
 it is claimed Latin as now taught fails to achieve are 
 themselves legitimate and indispensable ends of a liberal 
 education. Why, then, reproach Latin for failing to 
 consummate these ends? Why not rather commend 
 it for what it does accomplish, and endeavour by wise 
 and fostering care to make it realize even more richly 
 that which experience has so abundantly shown it cap- 
 able of achieving ? 
 
 In all this discussion thus far I have been conceding 
 what I really believe to be impossible, namely, the 
 acquisition in the secondary school of the snbjectiTe 
 
 power to read Latin as Latin and to interpret Acquisition 
 
 T . ,• , HT . " of Latin Im- 
 
 a Latm text directly. My own conviction possible in 
 
 is that relatively little can be accomplished ^^ school. 
 
 in this direction in the schools, even under favourable 
 
 conditions. Do we realize sufficiently the amount of 
 
96 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 time that is indispensable in acquiring pronunciation, 
 learning forms and vocabulary, analyzing words, tracing 
 their history and development of meaning, studying 
 syntax, and writing Latin ? Some time, too, is conceded 
 to translation even by the most ardent adherents of 
 direct interpretation. When all this is done, how much 
 time is likely to be left in any ordinary school program 
 for the acquisition of a subjective feeling for Latin? 
 Does it not take in the aggregate an enormous amount 
 of time to acquire a subjective feeling for a modern 
 language? I do not mean a subjective feeling merely 
 for a few current phrases sufficient to enable one to 
 secure railway transportation and hotel accommodations 
 in France or Germany. We are speaking of a subjec- 
 tive acquisition of Latin which shall be adequate for the 
 interpretation of literature. Can any such subjective 
 acquisition of French or German be attained without 
 prolonged concentration upon the spoken language? 
 Is it not a mistake, too, to imagine that the chief diffi- 
 culty in acquiring a sense for Latin as Latin is the 
 word-order? Undoubtedly the word-order does con- 
 stitute one great obstacle to the pupil, but it is far 
 from being the only one, or the greatest. My own 
 experience with elementary pupils has shown me that 
 they are ignorant of the meanings of words, they fail v 
 to apprehend the force of inflections, they have hazy 
 or inaccurate conceptions of syntactical possibilities, 
 they are not adequately informed as to the subject 
 matter with which the Latin text is concerned. Under 
 such circumstances, there are apt to be so many ele- 
 ments of uncertainty in a Latin sentence that the direct 
 apprehension of its content is simply impossible to the 
 average elementary pupil. The capacity to understand 
 Latin as Latin, and to interpret it directly, must, it seems 
 to me, be a matter of growth, and with most pupils a 
 
READING AT SIGHT 9/ 
 
 matter of slow growth. I do not see how it can come 
 until the pupil has grown very familiar with individual 
 words for one thing, — so familiar that the word is no 
 longer objective, but subjective, so that as soon as uttered 
 its whole meaning flashes before him involuntarily. So, 
 too, the pupil must come by long practice to feel the 
 exact force of inflection, all the numerous variations of 
 mood, tense, voice, case, etc. A keen appreciation for 
 word-order must also have been developed as the result 
 of repeated observations of its significance. All this 
 takes time, and a great deal of time. Yet until it has 
 been accomplished I fail to see how the pupil can be 
 held to read at sight in the sense of directly interpret- 
 ing a Latin author. Only then can one do this when 
 the process has become thoroughly unconscious, and 
 after an experience of many years with freshmen in 
 four American universities, I have not as yet had the 
 good fortune to meet with pupils who seemed to me 
 to have reached this stage, anxious as I have been to 
 discover them, and thankfully as I should hail them as 
 my own deliverers from many a difficulty which has for 
 years given me perplexity; for after thirty years of 
 continuous study of Latin I am still bound to confess 
 that I think it hard, very hard. I have read much, in 
 fact most of the Latin literature. A few years ago I sat 
 down to prepare a little edition of Cicero's de Senectute. 
 For six months all my available leisure, which was then 
 considerable, was devoted to the completion of this 
 task. The de Senectute is what would be called easy 
 Latin, hardly more difficult than one of Cicero's ora- 
 tions, and yet with the help of all the extensive literature 
 on the subject and of several competent advisers, I am 
 still bound to confess that there are many points of 
 interpretation in that little essay which are by no means 
 clear to me, and more where my own interpretation 
 
 7 
 
98 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 (though I am prepared to defend it) has been adjudged 
 anywhere from improbable to absolutely impossible by 
 other scholars. This in the case of a classic that is 
 relatively easy, whose text is unusually sound, and for 
 whose elucidation relatively so much has been done. 
 I repeat, I believe Latin to be hard, and its accurate 
 understanding and faithful interpretation no simple 
 matter. We so often fail to realize the immense intel- 
 lectual gulf that separates us from the past. It is not 
 merely the structural difficulties of the Latin language 
 that make Latin a hard study; it is even more the 
 content of what is recorded in that language. Latin 
 literature consists not of the doings, thoughts, and 
 aspirations of nineteenth century Americans, but of a 
 widely different people, different in all their social, intel- 
 lectual, religious, and political endowments, attainments, 
 and environment. When we read Latin, therefore, we 
 must not merely master the technical difficulties of the 
 Some of the Roi"^ii speech, but we must surmount the 
 Difficulties obstacle of adapting ourselves to the totally 
 atin. j^g^ intellectual surroundings. Is not this 
 the really difficult thing; and must not the key to it 
 be furnished mainly by a slow and minute study of the 
 literature itself? Until we have by gradual steps worked 
 our way up to the new attitude, may we undertake to 
 believe that we can interpret Latin directly ? In other 
 words, can we feel Latin (the speech of the Romans) 
 as Latin, until we have first surrounded ourselves with 
 the intellectual atmosphere of that ancient people ? This 
 is true of any modern language, even under favourable 
 conditions. It takes in the aggregate a long time — 
 longer than can ever be available in the schools, — to 
 learn to think and feel in French or German, even when 
 one hears those languages constantly spoken. How 
 much more difficult must it be to do the same in the 
 
READING AT SIGHT 99 
 
 case of Latin, which we not only do not hear spoken, 
 but practically not even pronounced to any extent worth 
 mentioning, — a language, too, whose entire idiom is so 
 much more at variance with ours than is either of the 
 modern languages just mentioned. 
 
 One other fact, too, remains to be considered. ' Latin ' 
 is an elastic term. ' French ' and ' German,' on the 
 other hand, are definite and precise concepts, Latin an Eias- 
 or relatively so. When we say ' French ' or *i<= '^eaa., 
 ' German ' we mean the French or German of to-day, — 
 of a single period. Latin may be the Latin of Plautus or 
 the Latin of Suetonius, and between the two is an inter- 
 val of nearly four centuries, containing writers of widely 
 different style, vocabulary, syntax, word-order, sentence- 
 structure, etc. The vastness of the difference between 
 many of these various writers we often fail to appre- 
 ciate, simply because it is so difficult for us to acquire 
 an actual feeling for a language which we do not speak. 
 But these differences exist, and they augment enor- 
 mously the difficulties of acquiring a sense for Latin as 
 Latin, especially in the beginner; for with a new author 
 and a new period we practically come upon a new 
 language. Latin is not one language, but practically 
 several, according to its various periods and its various 
 representatives. 
 
 All these difficulties and embarrassments must be 
 frankly faced when it is seriously proposed to teach 
 pupils in the secondary schools a sense for Latin as 
 Latin, and to make the acquisition of that capacity the 
 prime end of Latin study at that stage. It is very easy 
 to recommend such a program, and even to tell how 
 it should be carried out. Thus Mr. Hale tells us that 
 the mind should hold in suspense. But the human 
 mind is a peculiar organism. It is very obstinate for 
 one thing. It has laws of operation which when they 
 
lOO THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 become habitual it is well nigh impossible to alter. It is 
 one thing to be told we are to hold in suspense ; it i? 
 quite a different thing to hold something in suspense. 
 Similarly Professor Greenough urges us to force the 
 mind to make a mental picture, whether the given order 
 is familiar or not. I am free to confess that so far as 
 the secondary schools are concerned I believe both Mr. 
 Hale and Mr. Greenough to be at fault. I cannot think 
 that the true way to get a feeling for Latin is by any con- 
 scious process, — least of all by any conscious forcing 
 process as Mr. Greenough would have us believe. 
 
 Hamerton in his Intellectual Life has a dream of a 
 Latin island. " Let us suppose," says he, " that a hun- 
 Hamerton's dred fathers could be found, all resolved to 
 Proposal. submit to some inconvenience in order that 
 their sons might speak Latin as a living language. A 
 small island might be rented near the coast of Italy, 
 and in that island Latin alone might be permitted. 
 Just as the successive governments of France main- 
 tain the establishments of Sevres and the Gobelins 
 to keep the manufactures of porcelain and tapestry up 
 to a recognised high standard of excellence, so this 
 Latin island might be maintained to give more vivacity 
 to scholarship. If there were but one little corner of 
 ground on the wide earth where pure Latin was con- 
 stantly spoken, our knowledge of the classic writers 
 would become far more sympathetically intimate. After 
 thinking in the Latin island, we should think in Latin as 
 we read, and read without translating." Hamerton him- 
 self confesses that this is a Utopian dream, and so I am 
 confident it is, but not for the reasons that he advances. 
 To his mind the proposed plan is idle, because sooner or 
 later these isolated Latinists would be forced to return to 
 the corrupting influence of modern colleges and univer- 
 sities. But even on their island I must believe that the 
 
READING AT SIGHT lOI 
 
 attempt to maintain a high standard of spoken Latin 
 could terminate only in ignominious failure. Latin, as 
 Hamerton understands it and as we all must understand 
 it, was the language of a people who have long passed 
 away. The Latin language, as we know it in its extant 
 literature, records the mental attitude, intellectual attain- 
 ments, sentiments, and aspirations of that people. For 
 these it was an adequate expression. For the immensely 
 altered conditions of our modern life, different in almost 
 every conceivable detail from that of the Romans, it can 
 be no adequate vehicle. Hamerton's young islanders, 
 therefore, could not resuscitate the language of the 
 Romans, because they would have none of the ideas that 
 were essentially characteristic of the Roman people. 
 The most they could do would be to create a new idiom, 
 — Latin mayhap in outward form and structure, but in 
 content as modern as our daily newspapers. Such an 
 experiment could bring one no nearer the heart of 
 ancient life nor do one whit to lessen the strangeness of 
 the ancient civilization, the thing which really makes 
 Latin difficult. To meet this difficulty we want not 
 more method, but simply more knowledge. 
 
 I shall also venture to urge another point in this con- 
 nection, and one which seems to me of fundamental 
 importance. It is this: unless I am gravely 
 mistaken, the proposition to make direct in- CoUege to the 
 terpretation the central feature of Latin instruc- S'=*""'*- 
 tion in the secondary school emanated originally from the 
 college alone, and the pressure that has since been exerted 
 to secure its recognition in programs of instruction has 
 come from the same source. Now I make bold to raise 
 the question whether college teachers can possibly under- 
 stand the organization and problems of the secondary 
 schools sufficiently well to warrant them in urging any 
 such method of imparting instruction upon the schools. 
 
I02 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 Ought not any such detailed scheme of teaching, if it is 
 to give promise of success, to originate primarily in the 
 schools themselves? Ought it not to be the outcome of 
 the observation and experience of the teachers who are 
 in constant touch with secondary pupils, who know 
 exactly their strength and weakness, their capacity and 
 their limitations? Is there warrant for believing that any 
 definite method of imparting knowledge, elaborated out- 
 side the schools by men of however exalted scholastic 
 position, can be intelligently adopted and applied by the 
 teachers? I do not believe there is. Any method 
 really feasible and fruitful is sure to be discovered and 
 applied by the secondary teacher long before it is for- 
 mulated outside. I have therefore regretted not a little 
 of late to note the increasing tendency on the part of 
 the colleges to assume a responsibility for the interior 
 economy of the schools, and not merely to prescribe the 
 subject matter, but to urge definite ways of giving in- 
 struction. Any such attitude, I beheve, does injustice 
 to the schools. As one who has laboured in that depart- 
 ment of education for some length of time, and knows 
 something of the problems with which the secondary 
 teacher is confronted, I earnestly deprecate the assump- 
 tion that the secondary teachers are not the most com- 
 petent agents to solve their own problems. Certainly if 
 they do not possess the intelligence and patience to do 
 so, I am at a loss to see how they can be thought capa- 
 ble of applying a solution devised by others. 
 
 The foregoing considerations were formally presented 
 to a gathering of representative teachers a few years 
 ago. In the discussion which followed, an eminent edu- 
 cator nominally took issue with my conclusions. As 
 his remarks showed, however, his attitude on the main 
 point under discussion was practically identical with my 
 own. In fact he dealt the method I had myself been 
 
TRANSLATION AT SIGHT IO3 
 
 condemning some additional blows, calling attention 
 among other things to the undue stress laid upon syn- 
 tax to the practical exclusion of everything else. What 
 this educator understood by ' reading at sight ' was an 
 exercise wherein the pupils under the teacher's guid- 
 ance read a passage of Latin hitherto unseen. This is 
 not reading at sight in the sense in which it is ardently 
 championed by some, and in which I had endeavoured 
 to discuss it. An exercise in which the pupils are 
 taught by a competent guide the proper mode of at- 
 tacking a new passage of Latin and getting its fullest 
 and most accurate meaning, is one for which I have only 
 commendation. Within limits it is most useful. But 
 it should be obvious that it has not in the least been 
 the subject of consideration in the foregoing pages. 
 
 V. Translation at Sight. 
 
 'Translation at sight' has already been defined above, 
 p. 85. It means precisely what the words naturally 
 suggest, namely, the translation of a passage 
 of Latm which the pupil has never seen. I 
 have already, at the close of the previous section, indi- 
 cated what all will undoubtedly recognise as a legitimate 
 employment of translation at sight for purposes of in- 
 struction. Where time offers — and it can usually be 
 wisely taken — for such an exercise, it is likely to prove 
 an efficient means of guidance and of imparting knowl- 
 edge. It is nothing new, however, and has probably 
 been recognised as an effective instrument from time 
 immemorial. More serious is the question how far 
 ' translation at sight ' should be made the As tie Basis 
 basis of college admission tests. Were this ^4^^*00 
 question one which affected the colleges Tests, 
 alone, or the student after leaving the secondary school, 
 
104 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 it would be an impertinence to discuss it here ; but as 
 it has vital bearings upon the teaching of I^atin in the 
 schools, the relevancy of considering these bearings 
 must be apparent. 
 
 Some persons advocate making such translation (com- 
 bined with the writing of Latin) the sole test of the 
 candidate's knowledge, to the exclusion of any exami- 
 nation upon prescribed work. Against an examination 
 upon prescribed authors, it is urged that such a test is 
 quantitative, whereas an examination on a passage set 
 for translation at sight is qualitative. Such a compari- 
 son, however, seems to me exceedingly unfair. To 
 characterize an examination upon prescribed work as 
 essentially quantitative implies that its primary object is 
 to discover how much has been read, combined with the 
 policy of accepting or rejecting the candidate according 
 as the amount is found to be great or small. No one 
 seriously supposes any such thing for a moment. As a 
 matter of fact, an examination upon prescribed work is, 
 and always has been, primarily a qualitative test. The 
 essential difference between such an examination and 
 an examination by translation at sight is not that one is 
 qualitative and the other quantitative, but that, both 
 being qualitative, the range of selection is somewhat 
 greater in the one case than in the other. My own 
 objections against an exclusive sight test are based quite 
 as much on the practical effects of the system, as upon 
 any theoretical grounds. Practically I believe the ten- 
 dency of such a test is to tempt many teachers to 
 employ the time of their classes on the rapid reading of 
 large amounts with consequent failure on the part of 
 their pupils to acquire that precise knowledge of the 
 grammar and that fine feeling for the language which 
 are so indispensable to true scholarship. This I believe, 
 because I have thought I discovered the effects of this 
 
TRANSLATION AT SIGHT 105 
 
 practice in the deterioration in the quality of classical 
 preparatory training which is now so generally deplored. 
 In the secondary study of Latin, I am convinced that 
 our greatest danger at present is that of slovenly, super- 
 ficial work. In the eager quest of the magic power to 
 translate at sight, it is all too easy to lose sight of the 
 most indispensable conditions of ever attaining profi- 
 ciency in the language, — namely, a painfully thorough 
 grammatical discipline. At no period in a four years' 
 course should such discipline be relaxed. It is with 
 learning to read a classical language, as it is with 
 learning to play a musical instrument. The technique 
 of the art cannot be neglected, and he who is the most 
 perfect master of technique will be surest of making a 
 player in the end, — at least he will never make a player 
 without it. So in reading Latin the process is not one 
 of divination, but of sober inference from positive knowl- 
 edge of the nieanings of words, the force of inflections, 
 word-order, and the subtleties of syntax; and no one 
 who is not master of these can any more translate at 
 sight, than he can read music at sight without having 
 previously mastered the technique of the particular 
 instrument on which he wishes to perform. 
 
 Another practical objection to the plan of an exclusive 
 sight test is the great difficulty in setting passages which 
 are just and fair. I base this conclusion partly on a 
 comparison of passages actually given at different insti- 
 tutions, and partly on my experience as a secondary 
 teacher and a college professor. It is no exaggeration 
 to say that passages are often set which, in view of their 
 inherent difficulty and the absence of the context, are 
 altogether beyond the power of any ordinary pupil ; in 
 fact it is no secret that the secondary teacher is some- 
 times seriously puzzled to interpret the passage set for 
 his own pupils. 
 
I06 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 If a sight test is to be made the basis — wholly or 
 partially — of a college entrance examination, I should 
 recommend as the best possible preparation for such 
 a test the most careful and thorough preparation of 
 the traditional prescribed authors, Caesar (or Nepos), 
 Cicero, and Virgil. 
 
 The pupil who has faithfully and accurately studied 
 his four books of the Gallic War, his seven speeches of 
 Cicero, and his six or eight books of the ^neid, need 
 have no fear of any passage set him for translation at 
 sight that ought to be put before a candidate for ad- 
 mission to college. It is because so many teachers 
 fail to see this, and because the colleges so often set 
 extremely difficult passages, that new " methods " are 
 becoming prevalent and vitiating the quality of pre- 
 paratory Latin teaching. 
 
 With a definite amount of time at our disposal only 
 two possibilities present themselves to me : Either the 
 traditional prescribed authors and honest work, or an 
 increase of the amount read and a consequent lowering 
 of quality. I leave it to the candid judgment of all 
 teachers, which course is likely to prove the better 
 either for the student who is to end his Latin study in 
 the secondary school or for the prospective collegian. 
 
 VI. What Latin Reading should follow the Elementary Work ? 
 
 When the elements of Latin have been once mastered 
 the question arises. What is to be done next? It was 
 long common to begin at once the reading of Ca£sar; 
 and probably that custom is still somewhat prevalent. 
 Yet the difificulties of Caesar or even of the alternative 
 Nepos are undeniable, and have led teachers more 
 and more to prefer the use of some simple Latin to 
 serve as a transition from the simple sentences used in 
 
SASV READING 107 
 
 connection with the elementary work to the first regular 
 continuous prose author. I am myself de- Reading 
 cidedly of the opinion that some such simple I'^oposed. 
 Latin should precede either Caesar or Nepos. Several 
 things offer themselves for this purpose : 
 
 a. Viri Romae. 
 
 b. Roman History {e.g. Jacobs's extracts). 
 
 c. Eutropius. 
 
 d. Some simplification of a part of Caesar. 
 Let us consider these in turn. 
 
 Viri Romae is of more value than its barbarous Latin 
 
 title might suggest. It was prepared a century and a 
 
 half ago by an enthusiastic French teacher, ,„_, „ 
 
 ° •' ' Viri Romae. 
 
 Lhomond, — a man whose whole hfe was 
 dedicated to the service of secondary education. As 
 the title of the work suggests, it is a history arranged 
 biographically. It contains some thirty lives of Roman 
 worthies from Romulus to Augustus. In composition 
 the work is a cento, i. e. the different sentences of which 
 each life is made up are drawn from various Latin 
 writers. Often they are abbreviated or otherwise sim- 
 pHfied for the purpose of producing a narrative which 
 shall avoid the difficulties that characterize almost all 
 continuous prose. Lhomond evidently had the teacher's 
 instinct; he knew the advantages of the biographical 
 treatment, with its keen appeal to the youthful mind; 
 he was quick, too, to see and utilize those historical and 
 biographical features which were striking and essential, 
 and to bring these out in strong relief. His little work 
 is therefore extremely interesting to the average pupil 
 of the class for which it is intended. For years it has 
 been widely used abroad, and recently it has met with 
 much favour in this country. 
 
 Jacobs's extracts from Roman (and Greek) history 
 have also done excellent service both abroad and in 
 
Io8 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 this country. They were originally prepared by Jacobs, 
 an eminent German educator of the early part of this 
 jacobs's century, for his Latin Reader. The arrange- 
 Eztracts. ment is historical, as opposed to biographi- 
 cal, but the material is put together on much the same 
 plan as that in Lhomond's book. It is, however, drawn 
 from fewer sources (chiefly from Justin and Eutropius), 
 and the changes from the original have been fewer than 
 in Viri Romae. Though brief, and sketchy, it is not 
 devoid of interest, and impresses upon the pupil who 
 reads it a number of the essential happenings which 
 constitute the basis of Roman history. Few freshmen, 
 I must confess, bring to college as much knowledge of 
 Roman history as is contained in these brief selections 
 of Jacobs, meagre as they are. A possible advantage 
 possessed by this work as compared with Viri Romae 
 is the great simplicity of the Latin, particularly in the 
 earlier portion of the selections. 
 
 Eutropius ^ has never been much used in this country 
 or elsewhere, so far as I know, and the reception ac- 
 corded to recently published editions of the 
 work fails to encourage the belief that it 
 will ever be popular. The work lacks life and, above 
 all, it lacks perspective ; it is an exceedingly dry annal- 
 istic account of events important and unimportant. It 
 can hardly be expected to inspire interest, especially in 
 young pupils. 
 
 The last type of simple reading to be considered con- 
 sists of some simpHfication of a part of Caesar. An ad- 
 Cffisar vantage of such matter is that the pupil 
 
 Simpiifled. becomes familar with Caesar's vocabulary, his 
 subject matter, and his general style, without encounter- 
 ing the severer obstacles of his continuous narrative. 
 
 ^ See Redway, J. W., The Breviarium of Eutropius, in The Educa- 
 tional Review, vol. xii. (Dec. 1S96), p. 509 f£. 
 
EASy READING I09 
 
 Still it is difficult, I think, to secure any simplification of 
 Caesar without a decided diminution of such interest 
 (perhaps not very great at best) as is possessed by the 
 original. 
 
 With the exception of the last, all the foregoing 
 works suffer from one defect. The Latin is much of it 
 far from classical. Eutropius belongs to the defects oi 
 fourth century of our era; Justin to the Most of 
 second. Similarly many of the other sources ^^' 
 embodied in Viri Romae, and in Jacobs's Extracts from 
 Roman History are late, and exhibit striking variations 
 from the norm of classical usage. This is a serious fault. 
 The pupil learns from his elementary book or his gram- 
 mar that qiiamqiiam is construed with the indicative, 
 but is at once introduced to Latin in which he finds this 
 particle used with the subjunctive ; he learns that ut or 
 postquam referring to a single past act takes the perfect 
 indicative ; he finds them used with the pluperfect ; he 
 learns that in indirect discourse verbs of ' promising,' for 
 example, are followed by the future infinitive with sub- 
 ject accusative, but he meets expressions like proinisit 
 dare, obviously employed in the sense ' he promised 
 that he would give.' These are but illustrations of the 
 very numerous violations of the most ordinary canons of 
 standard usage as laid down in all our grammars. If 
 Viri Romae, Jacobs's Extracts, or Eutropius are to be 
 used in our schools, they certainly ought to be adapted, 
 as can easily be done, to recognised classical standards. 
 Otherwise the task of inculcating any accurate grammat- 
 ical knowledge must be immensely increased. 
 
 The foregoing enumeration of books containing sim- 
 ple reading makes no pretence at completeness. There 
 are numerous other books. Many suffer from the same 
 objectionable features of unclassical Latin; others in- 
 troduce modern or mediaeval subject matter in a Latin 
 
no THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 dress. This last procedure seems a serious mistake. To 
 the extent that we withdraw the student of Latin from 
 the thoughts and ideas of ancient Rome, we are missing 
 one important element of culture which ought to come 
 from the study of Latin, namely, better understanding 
 of the present through an understanding of the past. 
 This end is certainly not reached by stories from the 
 Arabian Nights or English history put in Latin form 
 by modern scholars. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 WHAT AUTHORS ARE TO BE READ IN THE SECONDARY 
 SCHOOL AND IN "WHAT SECiDENCB? 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 "Wagler, F. A., Casar als Schulbuch, in Zeitschrift fur das Gym- 
 NASiALWESEN, 1857, pp. 481-503. This article has been excellently trans- 
 lated by F. H. Howard in The School Review, 1897, pp. 561-587. 
 
 Report of the Committee of Ten of the National Educational Asso- 
 ciation. Latin. 1893. 
 
 Report of the Committee of Twelve of the American Philological 
 Association on Courses in Latin and Greek for Secondary Schools. 
 1899. 
 
 I. What Author should be read first? 
 
 There has been much discussion in recent years as 
 to what regular prose author should be read first. For 
 years Caesar's Gallic War had been chosen for this pur- 
 pose, and this practice had become so universal as to be 
 regarded almost as a permanent and necessary feature 
 of our educational economy. In the Report of the Com- 
 mittee of Ten of the National Educational Association, 
 published in 1893, the suggestion was formally made 
 that Nepos be substituted for Csesar as the nepos vs. 
 first prose author to be read in our secondary casar. 
 schools. This suggestion of the Committee of Ten was 
 but the adoption of a recommendation of the Latin Con- 
 ference appointed by the Committee in December, 1 892. 
 The Conference devoted two days of careful discussion 
 to the consideration of several problems of secondary 
 instruction in Latin, and was practically unanimous in 
 
112 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 its recommendation that Nepos be made optional with 
 Caesar. As the question of choice is of some impor- 
 tance, it seems worth while to discuss the relative merits 
 of these two authors with reference to their adaptation to 
 the needs of secondary instruction. I cannot do better 
 perhaps than to enumerate the considerations which 
 weighed with me (and I think with others) as a member of 
 the Latin Conference which reported to the Committee of 
 Ten, and then to add the reasons which have tended sub- 
 quently to modify the position then taken. While not 
 explicitly expressing disapproval of Caesar as the first 
 author read, yet the recommendation of the Conference 
 was intended to indicate a certain distrust of the fit- 
 ness of Caesar to retain the place it had held so long. 
 In recommending Nepos, though only as a permis- 
 sible alternative, the Conference meant to suggest the 
 superior fitness of that author for the special stage 
 of Latin involved. 
 
 otjections to Against Caesar (and by Caesar is meant his 
 Caesar. Gallic War) it is urged : 
 
 a. Casar is undeniably difficult. Indirect Discourse 
 abounds, particularly in the first book, which from nat- 
 Difficiuty. ^'^^ inertia will always be the book generally 
 
 first read, despite the frequent recommenda- 
 tions of educators to begin with the second, third, or 
 fourth book. But even apart from the indirect discourse 
 and apart from the first book, Caesar cannot be called 
 easy reading, especially for the beginner. 
 
 b. CcBsar is not interesting. The writer does not 
 impress us as gifted with imagination, historic or other. 
 
 Lack of He is exceedingly dry. There is little to ex- 
 interest. (-j(.g ^^ enthusiasm. The narrative, more- 
 over, is monotonous. We have practically an unbroken 
 chronicle of marches and victories, in which the tri- 
 umph of trained Romans over undisciplined and poorly 
 
CMSAR OR NEPOSf II3 
 
 equipped Gauls and Germans is nothing surprising. 
 Patches of interest appear here and there, to be sure, 
 as where Caesar gives us descriptions of the customs of 
 the Gauls, Britons, or Germans. These are brief, how- 
 ever, — hardly more than oases in the surrounding 
 desert of military details ; — some of them, moreover, 
 are found in portions of Caesar not usually read. 
 
 c. The bearing of Ccesars narrative is not obvious. 
 The pupil cannot see the point, — the drift of it all. 
 It is apparent, of course, that Caesar is con- obscure 
 quering a lot of turbulent Gauls and Germans. Bearings. 
 But what it all signifies, must necessarily be very obscure 
 to the average pupil ; at least it does not appear in the 
 narrative itself With the exception of the few chapters 
 already referred to on the customs of the Gauls, Ger- 
 mans, and Britons, all of Caesar's commentaries on the 
 Gallic War might easily be summed up in a few brief 
 lines, to the effect that for seven years he waged unceas- 
 ing war against the Gallic and German tribes, and 
 finally subdued them all. This is practically the sub- 
 stance of the historical knowledge acquired by the stu- 
 dent in reading Caesar. Without doubt Caesar's Gallic 
 campaigns were profoundly significant. They had a 
 motive, — perhaps a double motive. On the one hand 
 Caesar was strengthening himself by his military success 
 for future schemes of ambition. By winning prestige 
 and power in Gaul, he aimed to be able to return to 
 Rome at the critical juncture and make himself master 
 of the situation, as he actually did. On the other hand 
 he may have been exercising that far-sighted states- 
 manship, with which Mommsen credits him, in prepar- 
 ing for the organization of the West as a part of the 
 Roman Empire. But though all this is true, yet it does 
 not appear in Caesar's Commentaries. The Commenta- 
 ries themselves, in all their weary detail of battle, siege, 
 
 8 
 
114 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 and march, never suggest their own connection with 
 contemporary or future history. To all intents and 
 purposes they stand outside of the events of their own 
 day. They do not contain facts the knowledge of which 
 is of value to the average pupil or the average edu- 
 cated person of mature years. Some have compared 
 the similar choice of Xenophon's Anabasis as the first 
 Greek usually read. But it must be admitted in favour 
 of the Anabasis that, while it has for the pupil no visible 
 connection with Greek history and no visible bearings 
 upon it, it is at least neither difficult for the beginner 
 nor dull. Caesar, on the other hand, is regarded by 
 many as unique in its combination of difficulty, its dul- 
 ness, and its dearth of valuable information. If anything 
 of Caesar's were to be read, it is often urged that it 
 The Civil Ought rather to be his Commentaries on the 
 ^"'- Civil War than those on the Gallic War. 
 
 The account of the Civil War at least contains valuable 
 information of an important epoch in Roman history. 
 We see the very death-struggle of the old order of 
 things, — the Republic passing away to make room for 
 the Empire. We see Caesar leave his GaUic province 
 and become an active maker of Roman history at its 
 most critical era. We follow him from the beginning 
 of his strife with the Senate and Pompey through all 
 the stirring events of the next three years (49-46), at 
 Pharsalus, in the East, in Egypt, in Numidia, until he 
 finally comes back to Rome to lay the foundations of 
 the imperial organization. There is no doubt here as to 
 the bearings of the narrative. The most ordinary pupil 
 cannot fail to apprehend its import. Nor is it dull. It 
 may, however, possibly suffer from one defect: it is 
 difficult, — too difficult perhaps for the average pupil 
 who is approaching his first Latin author. 
 
 In defence of Caesar the chief point to be urged is 
 
C^SAR OR NEPOSf IIS 
 
 the purity of his diction and the accuracy of his style. 
 That he is a correct writer, no one can deny. He 
 thought, as he acted, with a directness and in Defence 
 precision which were admirable, and he ex- "fCtesar. 
 pressed himself in writing with equal directness and 
 precision. At the same time nothing could be more 
 grotesque to the minds of most than to attribute a 
 literary character or quality to Caesar. He simply gives 
 us a plain and colourless statement of facts, which makes 
 hardly any nearer approach to literary charm than does 
 a clear statement of a proposition in geometry. Such 
 a statement may be clear and precise and direct, — yet 
 its literary quality would be grudgingly conceded. 
 
 We pass to the considerations which are 
 urged in favour of Cornelius Nepos. 
 
 a. Nepos's Latinity is good. This is disputed by 
 some, and I have even heard it charged that Nepos 
 
 did ■ not know how to write Latin. That he 
 
 , . ■ , r , His Latinity. 
 
 was an elegant writer, possessed of command- 
 ing stylistic powers, no one will maintain, but that he 
 was a correct writer and represents in the main with 
 great fidelity the standard classical usage of the best 
 period cannot be gainsaid. To verify the impressions 
 of my own reading, I have recently re-examined Bern- 
 hard Lupus's book of some two hundred pages, Der 
 Sprachgebrauch des Comelitis Nepos, Berlin, 1 876. This 
 work is a detailed syntactical study of Nepos, and 
 supports abundantly the assertion made above regard- 
 ing the correctness of Nepos's style. Nepos, to be 
 sure, omits the auxiliary esse with the future active and 
 perfect passive infinitives, but this is the prevailing 
 usage with many excellent writers. He also uses dubito 
 with the infinitive, where Cicero and Caesar preferred 
 to use a <^;«'«-clause ; but while Cicero himself never 
 uses the infinitive with dubito in this sense, several of 
 
Il6 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 his correspondents employ it, the accomplished Asinius 
 Pollio, Trebonius, and Cicero's own son Marcus. Dnin, 
 ' while,' in standard prose usually is construed with 
 the historical present. Nepos once uses it with the 
 perfect; but Cicero also does this. The perfect sub- 
 junctive (for imperfect) in result clauses is exceedingly 
 frequent in Nepos, — so frequent as to be a striking 
 feature of his style. Yet the usage is thoroughly good. 
 Caesar and Cicero use it, though rarely. The only two 
 striking exceptions to standard usage that I have noted 
 in Nepos are fungor with the accusative and quamvis 
 with the indicative. Yet Cicero also is credited with 
 one instance of the latter construction, and Sallust once 
 uses vescor with the accusative. On the whole Nepos 
 writes like his contemporaries, barring the fact that he 
 does not exhibit their stylistic gifts. He shows none 
 of the symptoms of the so-called " decline." So far as 
 his diction is concerned, he is an eminently fit author 
 to put into the hands of young pupils. 
 
 b. Nepos' s lives are interesting. Though they are the 
 
 lives of Greeks, they are the lives of famous Greeks, 
 
 men who stand out as great exemplars in 
 Interest. , , . , , . 
 
 human history, whose achievements and 
 
 whose characters have always evoked admiration. Were 
 
 they the lives of Romans, they would undoubtedly be 
 
 better adapted to pupils of Latin, yet Nepos's point of 
 
 view and his mode of treatment are so thoroughly 
 
 Roman that one catches much of the Roman spirit in 
 
 reading and studying them. 
 
 c. They are composed in short instalments. This is 
 exclusively a psychological advantage, perhaps, but it 
 
 is not without importance. Where the pupil 
 sees the end, he receives a stimulus to coun- 
 teract the fatigue of study. When the end of what he 
 is reading lies but two or three pages ahead, he is eager 
 
CJESAR OR A/EPOS? I17 
 
 to press on and gain the goal. When he reaches this, 
 he enjoys the satisfaction of having accompHshed one 
 whole thing and of having it behind him. Very differ- 
 ent are his feehngs when he begins one of the long books 
 of Csesar, where he must read for weeks before he can 
 really get the setting to enable him fully to understand 
 what he reads, and where the remoteness of the end 
 of the book tends to produce a certain discouragement 
 and despair of ever reaching it. 
 
 d. The method of treatment by biography is attractive. 
 The hero-worshipping instinct of the young pupil takes 
 delight in the recital of the deeds of noble Biographical 
 men, a point already touched upon above in Treatment, 
 connection with Viri Romcz. 
 
 The foregoing, I believe, were the main considerations 
 which prompted the recommendation of the Latin Con- 
 ference in 1892 which was later embodied in the Report 
 of the Committee of Ten in 1893. Subsequent experi- 
 ence has shown that most teachers cling te- geasonswhy 
 naciously to Caesar. Some doubtless do so caesarisstiii 
 from sheer inertia, but I am convinced that ^"^* ' 
 there are many who are thoughtful and deliberate in 
 their choice. I have been surprised to find how many 
 pupils find Csesar interesting, not merely notDuUto 
 more interesting than Nepos, but possessed of ■*^- 
 a positive human interest per se. Where samples of 
 both Caesar and Nepos have been read by a class, I 
 have been told the pupils often prefer Caesar. Possibly 
 the greater energy of action displayed in Caesar's Com- 
 mentaries may explain this attitude on the part of those 
 pupils who manifest it. Boys in particular take an in- 
 terest in accounts of achievement. Nepos is not alto- 
 gether lacking in this feature, but many of his lives are 
 prevailingly devoted to an analysis of character ; while 
 with Caesar we have practically a continuous account 
 
Il8 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 of skilful triumph over difficulties. Upon most mature 
 
 minds not of the Miles Standish type, this narrative 
 
 soon palls; but it seems to be a fact that to the minds 
 
 of many young pupils it has a positive attractiveness. 
 
 One other reason in favour of Csesar of a somewhat 
 
 subtler nature may not be without its weight, and may 
 
 have acted subconsciously perhaps in determ- 
 Cxsar's 
 Greater Con- ining the adherence of many teachers to the 
 
 creteness in traditional Gallic War. I refer to the voca- 
 bulary of Caesar. A very careful comparison 
 of the vocabularies of Caesar and Nepos undertaken in 
 connection with the preparation of my Foundations of 
 Latin revealed to me the much greater concreteness of 
 Caesar's diction. This is largely a natural and necessary 
 adjunct of Caesar's subject matter. He deals mainly with 
 facts ; Nepos indulges much more in character analysis, 
 and, while this is never deep or subtle, it necessitates 
 the employment of words in transferred, figurative, ab- 
 stract senses. This fundamental difference is of vital 
 importance for the beginner. He s'hould, if possible, 
 first become acquainted with concrete ideas and with 
 the hteral meanings of words, particularly in the case 
 of words that also possess figurative senses. These 
 words and these meanings make the most direct ap- 
 peal, and leave the most vivid impress on the mind. 
 An apprehension of the literal meaning affords, too, 
 the best guide to all figurative, transferred meanings 
 which have later developed from it. These consider- 
 Proeress ations may perhaps explain the fact often 
 more notice- noted by teachers that pupils who have read 
 " *■ one book of Caesar find the next book much 
 
 easier, and the subsequent books easier still, while with 
 Nepos this increased facility is not noticed, the tenth 
 life being no easier than the first and the twentieth 
 scarcely easier than the tenth. Yet even apart from 
 
CICERO AND VIRGIL 1 19 
 
 the vocabulary, it must be manifest that the range of 
 ideas is considerably greater in Nepos than in Csesar ; 
 this constitutes a permanent difficulty in Nepos, so that, 
 though this author is somewhat easier at the outset, it 
 may after all be doubted whether on the whole he is 
 more so than Caesar. 
 
 On the whole, I for one feel to-day that the consider- 
 ations which are so often urged in favour of reading 
 Nepos instead of Caesar are by no means weighty 
 enough to warrant our giving the preference to the 
 former author. The choice between the two may 
 properly vary with the temper and taste of teachers 
 and the disposition of their pupils. Yet reflection tends 
 to make me think that for most pupils Caesar is the 
 better book for the purpose we have been considering. 
 
 II. Should Cicero Precede or Follow Virgil? 
 
 There is a difference of opinion as to whether Cicero 
 should precede or follow Virgil, and practice varies 
 accordingly. The question is one of enough importance 
 to receive consideration here ; two reasons suggest 
 themselves for postponing Virgil. 
 
 a. On the ground of the language. The pupil who 
 has finished Caesar or Nepos has not yet a sufficient 
 mastery of the language. He probably knows Linguistic 
 the forms, if he is ever going to, but he is not Reasons, 
 yet posted as he should be on the syntax of the lan- 
 guage, on its vocabulary, on the order of words, and 
 many other points of idiomatic usage. If he enter 
 upon the study of Virgil in this state of mind or of 
 knowledge, the chances are that what little knowledge of 
 the language he possesses will be pretty thoroughly un- 
 settled by reading poetry. The use of cases, the employ- 
 ment of words, and the arrangement of the sentence are 
 
120 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 all so different from prose usage, that unless the pupil 
 has already acquired settled convictions on the subject 
 great damage will be done. On the other hand, if he 
 takes his Cicero immediately after Nepos or Csesar, he 
 becomes so familiar with normal prose usage by the 
 time he finishes that author, that not only does the 
 poetical diction of Virgil work no injury — it rather 
 helps, by virtue of the contrast it furnishes to the 
 idiom of prose. 
 
 b. On the ground of the literature. Virgil is a poet, 
 whose product is one of the choicest that Roman litera- 
 titeraiy ture contains. Let the pupil wait until he is 
 Reasons. \,q=x qualified to do justice to the fine quality 
 of the yEneid. A year makes a great difference, and 
 will often decide whether the pupil shall read Virgil 
 with sympathy and profit, or the reverse. 
 
 Attention must also be given to another sequence 
 recently suggested in the reading of Cicero and Virgil. 
 Anotiier Ar- I refer to the course tentatively outlined in 
 rangement. ^^ Preliminary Report of the Committee of 
 Twelve on Courses in Latin and Greek for Secondary 
 Schools, issued in 1897. This committee consisted of 
 members of the American Philological Association, and 
 was appointed at the request of the National Educa- 
 tional Association in July, 1896. The suggestion is 
 made in this report that in the third year of an ordinary 
 four years' Latin course Cicero's four speeches against 
 Catiline be read, followed by Books i. and ii. of Virgil's 
 jEneid in the same year, and that in the fourth year 
 Books iii.-vi. of the ^neid be first read, to be followed 
 by two more orations of Cicero. It is difficult, however, 
 to believe that this suggestion represents the mature 
 judgment of any considerable number of educators. 
 To break the continuity of one's reading of Cicero's 
 orations by Virgil's ^neid, and to break the conti- 
 
THE ECLOGUES 121 
 
 nuity of the j/Eneid by the long vacation, seems an 
 unjustifiable waste of energy without any compensating 
 advantages. 
 
 III. Should Virgil's Eclogues be read in the Secondary Schools ? 
 
 The Latin Conference which met at Ann Arbor in 
 December, 1892, and which reported to the Committee 
 of Ten of the Jvfational Educational Association, ad- 
 vised against reading Virgil's Eclogues in the secondary 
 schools. This recommendation of the Conference was 
 adopted by the Committee. 
 
 The considerations urged against reading the Eclogues 
 
 are probably familiar. Stress is often laid upon their 
 
 difficulties. That they are difficult in parts, is ^ „ ^ 
 
 J , Conslderatioiis 
 
 undeniable. They abound in mythological urged against 
 allusions, while several of them involve alle- * °^^°' 
 gorical conceptions whose precise interpretation is still 
 debated by the critics. Another argument often urged 
 against the Eclogues is, that where they are not allegori- 
 cal they are mainly imitations of the Idyls of Theocritus ; 
 that the names and allusions are chiefly Greek, and 
 are taken from the pastoral life of the Sicily of the third 
 century B. C. Hence it has been urged that the study 
 of the Eclogues is properly adapted only to advanced 
 college students of comparative literature, — students 
 who know Theocritus and who can trace the Virgilian 
 poems back to the Sicilian originals. 
 
 But the experience of teachers and pupils denies 
 validity to the foregoing arguments. Pupils who have 
 read the Eclogues in the schools have, with Their uter- 
 practical unanimity, declared that they en- "^ ciiarm. 
 joyed these poems more than anything else in the 
 entire Latin course of the secondary school. Despite 
 their allegorical and mythological features, and despite 
 
122 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 the faqt that they are palpable imitations of Greek 
 originals, they nevertheless do make a strong appeal 
 to the youthful mind which cannot be ignored. There 
 is danger, perhaps, of condemning too precipitately 
 every literary work which bears traces of imitating 
 some previous work. All of Virgil bears the same 
 impress of his Greek originals as do the EclogJies. 
 The prime question in all these works and all similar 
 works is not merely whether they exhibit traces of 
 borrowing, but whether they exhibit anything else. In 
 Virgu the case of all of Virgil's works we may say 
 
 Recreated. that, despite the obvious evidences of in- 
 debtedness to his predecessors, he is no irresponsible 
 plagiarist or slavish imitator. He is a true poet, with 
 the genius and endowment of a poet. In form, in 
 phrase, in metaphor and simile, he has drawn with 
 freedom, in accordance with the spirit of his own age 
 and of all antiquity, upon Homer, Hesiod, and The- 
 ocritus. But in spite of this he has transformed all he 
 took with the spirit of his own genius; he has re- 
 created. It is this which makes the ^neid, the 
 Georgics, the Eclogues all great poems, and which 
 makes each in its totality as different as can possibly 
 be from the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Works and Days, 
 or the Idyls of Theocritus. Precisely the same thing 
 is true of Shakspere and of Milton. 
 
 I believe, therefore, that the Eclogues have a clear 
 title to a place in the curriculum of our secondary 
 schools, and that where time is available, it would be 
 wise to read them. They exhibit to us a phase of an- 
 cient literature not so well exemplified by anything else 
 I know. They breathe the breath of spring, the per- 
 Tennyson's fume of flowers; they suggest the charm of 
 Triijute. nature — trees, brooks, hills, lakes, sun, air, 
 stars — in her manifold phases. They touch upon 
 
THE ECLOGUES — SALLUST 1 23 
 
 the abounding joys of country-life. Tennyson's three 
 stanzas well exhibit the spell which these unique poems 
 exercised upon himself: 
 
 " Poet of the happy Tityrus 
 
 piping underneath his beechen bowers ; 
 Poet of the poet-satyr 
 ■whom the laughing shepherd bound with flowers ; 
 
 " Chanter of the PoUio, glorying 
 in the blissful years again to be, 
 Summers of the snakeless meadow, 
 unlaborious earth and oarless sea ; 
 
 " Thou that seest Universal 
 
 Nature moved by Universal Mind, 
 Thou majestic in thy sadness 
 at the doubtful doom of human kind." 
 
 This, to be sure, is the tribute of a poet, but I am 
 convinced that the attitude of pupils will be generally 
 analogous, and that it will justify the study of these 
 poems wherever time allows. All their subtleties will 
 not be apparent to the young student; some of them 
 have not even yet been settled by the critics, and may 
 never be, but there is enough that is obvious, that is 
 stimulating, that is elevating, to make them legitimate 
 and worthy objects of study for the pupils of our 
 schools. 
 
 IV. Sallust. 
 
 In point of content and style, Sallust is well deserving 
 of representation in the curriculum of the secondary 
 school. Both the Jugurtha and the Catiline are valu- 
 able and interesting specimens of historical prose which 
 will well repay careful study. The Catiline in particular 
 is instructive as correcting the one-sided conception of 
 
124 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 the famous conspiracy derived from reading only Cicero's 
 Catilinarian speeches; Sallust's narrative also largely 
 supplements Cicero's account and makes the historic 
 picture much fuller and completer. 
 
 The great difficulty, however, with the average school 
 is to find time for reading this work. The Latin curricu- 
 lum of the secondary school is already full, and our school 
 programs are now so congested that in most cases to add 
 more work is to increase a tension already too great and 
 to run great risk of lowering the quality of the instruc- 
 tion given. 
 
 V. Ovid. 
 
 There is no denying the charm of Ovid's Metamor- 
 phoses. Their style, too, is simple, while they afford no 
 little instruction in classical mythology. What has long 
 existed in the pupil's mind in more or less vagueness, 
 now takes on definite shape, as he reads Ovid's pictur- 
 esque details of the Deluge, of Phaethon, of Daphne, etc. 
 Yet the same difficulty confronts us here as in the case 
 of Sallust, and desirable as both these authors are in an 
 ideal secondary curriculum, it is greatly to be feared, 
 despite the recent recommendations of the Committee 
 of Twelve,^ that no large number of schools will find it 
 practicable under existing conditions to introduce either 
 of these authors into the Latin program. 
 
 VI. Five-year and Six-year Latin Courses. 
 
 The foregoing discussion has been based upon the as- 
 sumption that the course of Latin study in the secondary 
 school is a four-year course of five periods a week. 
 Many schools, however, already have five-year and six- 
 
 1 Report, p. 28 f. 
 
FIVE AND SIX YEAR COURSES 125 
 
 year courses, and the number of such longer courses 
 appears to be constantly on the increase. In view of 
 these conditions, the Committee of Twelve of the 
 American Philological Association, in its recent report 
 to the National Educational Association, makes the fol- 
 lowing observations : ^ 
 
 " The demand seemed imperative that it should 
 undertake to formulate courses extending beyond the 
 four-year limit. It accordingly presents a 
 five-year course, drawn in double form. The aationoftiie 
 
 first form is the standard four-year course, committee 
 
 of Twelve, 
 with the work of the first year extended over 
 
 two years in order to give twice the amount of time for 
 grammar lessons, the writing of simple exercises, and 
 easy reading. This form is intended to meet AFive-Tear 
 the needs of students who commence Latin a Course, 
 year earlier than in the ordinary four-year course. All 
 educational experience shows that the best results may 
 be secured from the study of Latin when the subject is 
 commenced somewhat earlier than is usual in this coun- 
 try, and at least two years are given to the elementary 
 work before the pupil begins the reading of Nepos or 
 Caesar. The second form is designed for schools which 
 have more mature and stronger pupils. The work of 
 the first four years of this course coincides with that of 
 the four-year standard course ; the additional year is de- 
 voted mainly to reading. The recommendation is made 
 that Virgil's yEneid be completed in order that pupils 
 who have the time for a five-year course may enjoy 
 the satisfaction of reading to the end the greatest Latin 
 epic, and viewing it as an artistic whole. An additional 
 amount of Cicero is also recommended : the two essays 
 On Old Age and On Friendship, which are short and 
 
 • See their Report, p 35. 
 
126 AUTHORS TO BE I^EAD 
 
 complete in themselves, together with some of the 
 briefer and more interesting Letters. Thus the pupil's 
 acquaintance with Cicero's many-sided literary and in- 
 tellectual accomplishments will be extended, while the 
 selections suggested will furnish the best possible model 
 of style for the writing of Latin in the latter part of the 
 course. 
 
 " A six-year course may be established at once by in- 
 troducing Latin into the last two years of the grammar 
 Six-Tear schools ; such was the method adopted in the 
 Course. (.j^y q{ Chicago. Or a six-year course may 
 be developed out of the five-year course, through the 
 use of either of the forms which have been suggested. 
 In either case it is obviously desirable to aim at a fair 
 degree of uniformity in such courses, and thus avoid for 
 them the inconveniences from which our present four- 
 year courses suffer. In the six-year course, at any rate, 
 two years can be given to that careful and thorough 
 preparation for reading which . not only forms the best 
 foundation for all later work in Latin, but also con 
 stitutes, for this period of the student's education, the 
 most effective instrument of training in exact habits of 
 thought and of expression. If two years are given to 
 this sort of work, most of the difficulties felt by the 
 young pupil in entering upon the study of Caesar will 
 have been anticipated and overcome. Thus arranged, 
 the first five years of the six-year course and the five- 
 year course in the first form presented will be identical 
 in respect of the subjects taken up and the order of ar- 
 rangement. The work of the sixth year will then corre- 
 spond closely with that of the last year of the five-year 
 course as given in the second form ; that is, it will be 
 devoted to the finishing of the jEneid, to the reading of 
 Cicero's essays On Old Age and On Friendship, and of 
 selected Letters, and to weekly exercises in prose com- 
 
FIVE AND SIX YEAR COURSES 12/ 
 
 position based on Cicero. Here also the principal 
 object should be, not to extend widely the range of 
 authors taken up, but so to adjust the work of the 
 course to the needs of the pupil's intellectual life as 
 most effectively to promote his development at this 
 period. 
 
 " In a number of cities it has been thought advanta- 
 geous to give two years of Latin in the grammar school 
 rather than one. The reason is that, since the length of 
 the high-school course, by common consent, remains fixed 
 at four years, the study of Latin for only a single year 
 before entrance into the high school is not only less 
 fruitful in itself, but is also less satisfactorily adjusted 
 to the other studies of the grammar-school course. The 
 arrangement is also found to be advantageous from the 
 point of view of the adjustment of the grammar-school 
 and high-school courses to each other. In a city in 
 which two years are given to Latin in the grammar 
 school, the high school also will undoubtedly continue to 
 give a four-year course. Pupils, then, who come up from 
 the grammar schools with two years of Latin will in the 
 high school find it possible to enter upon work which 
 corresponds with that of the second, third, and fourth 
 years of the four-year course, and will need to be taught 
 separately from other high-school students only in the 
 sixth year of their Latin study; in other words, im- 
 mediately upon entering the high school they may be 
 united with the second-year students in the four- year 
 course. In large high schools separate sections need to 
 be formed in any case for each Latin class, and probably 
 it will be found advantageous to teach the students of 
 the six-year course by themselves. In like manner, the 
 adjustment of a six-year or five-year course to an 
 already existing four-year course will be found easy in 
 the case of academies and private schools. 
 
128 
 
 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 " A plan by which the work of the four-year Latin 
 course may be correlated with that of the six-year 
 course is indicated in the following diagram: 
 
 SIX-YEAR COURSE 
 
 Nexi-io-last grade in grammar 
 school 
 
 First year of Latin 
 
 Last grade in grammar school 
 Second year of Latin 
 
 First year in high school 
 Third year of Latin 
 
 Second year in high school 
 Fourth year of Latin 
 
 Third year in high school 
 Fifth year of Latin 
 
 Fourth year in high school 
 Sixth year of Latin 
 
 FOUR-YEAR COURSE 
 
 First year in high school 
 First year of Latin 
 
 Second year in high school 
 Second year of Latin 
 
 Third year in high school 
 Third year of Latin 
 
 Fourth year in high school 
 Fourth year of Latin 
 
 " Led by the considerations which have been briefly 
 presented, the Committee, after careful deliberation, 
 has framed the three programs subjoined: one for 
 a four-year course, one for a five-year course (in two 
 forms), and one for a six-year course. We commend 
 these programs to the consideration of the schools, 
 hoping that they may be found convenient as standard 
 or model courses. 
 
FIVE AND SIX YEAR COURSES 129 
 
 FIVE-YEAR LATIN COURSE. 
 First Form. 
 
 {Five periods weekly throughout the five years.) 
 FIRST AND SECOND YEARS. 
 
 The same as the first year of the four-year course. 
 
 THIRD YEAR. 
 
 The same as the second year of the four-year course. 
 
 FOURTH AND FIFTH YEARS. 
 
 The same as the third and fourth years of the four-year 
 course. 
 
 FIVE-YEAR LATIN COURSE. 
 
 Second Form. 
 
 {Five periods weekly throughout the five years.) 
 
 FIRST YEAR. 
 
 The same as the first year of the four-year course. 
 
 SECOND YEAR. 
 
 The same as the second year of the four-year course. 
 
 THIRD AND FOURTH YEARS. 
 
 The same as the third and fourth years of the four-year 
 course. 
 
 FIFTH YEAR. 
 
 Virgil's /£neid : completed. 
 
 Cicero : De Senectuie and De Amicitia; selected Letters. 
 
 The equivalent of at least one period a week in prose com- 
 position based on Cicero. 
 
 The reading of Latin aloud. The memorizing of selected 
 passages. 
 
 9 
 
I30 AUTHORS TO BE READ 
 
 SIX-YEAR LATIN COURSE. 
 
 (Five periods weekly throughout the six years.) 
 
 FIRST AND SECOND YEARS. 
 
 The same as the first year of the four-year course. 
 
 THIRD YEAR. 
 
 The same as the second year of the four-year course. 
 
 FOURTH AND FIFTH YEARS. 
 
 The same as the third and fourth years of the four-year 
 course. 
 
 SIXTH YEAR. 
 
 Virgil's /Eneid: completed. 
 
 Cicero : De Senectute and De Amicitia ; selected Letters. 
 
 The equivalent of at least one period a week in prose com- 
 position based on Cicero. 
 
 The reading oi Latin aloud. The memorizing of selected 
 passages." 
 
 It is earnestly hoped that these recommendations may 
 receive careful consideration from Latin teachers wher- 
 ever it may be feasible to put them into efifective 
 operation. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 CONDUCT OF THE SECOITDAKY WORK EST LATIN 
 
 REFERENCE. 
 
 Miller, F. J. The Preparatory Course in Latin. School Review, 
 1897. p. 588 fE. 
 
 I. General Points on which Emphasis should be laid. 
 
 Assuming that the purposes of Latin study in the 
 secondary school are those already indicated in Chap- 
 ter I., namely, training in English, the strengthening of 
 the mental powers, the better comprehension of the 
 history of Roman thought and institutions, the quicken- 
 ing of the higher hterary sense, we shall easily draw 
 certain conclusions as to the fundamental principles of 
 Latin teaching. I have no special scheme to advocate, 
 but wish simply to call attention to one or two impor- 
 tant particulars, in which it seems to me there is often 
 neglect of duty on the part of teachers — frequently to 
 the great and, under the circumstances, deserved dis- 
 credit of Latin as an educational influence. 
 
 a. Translation. To begin with, if Latin is to be a 
 means of training in English, the form of the Enghsh 
 translation becomes a matter of the first im- The Form of 
 portance. It is not enough for the pupil , Translation- 
 to grasp the idea, and then to render it in a mongrel 
 idiom half Latin and half English. From the very out- 
 set of Latin study the standard should be set high, and 
 no translation accepted which will not stand the sever- 
 
132 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 est test as to the orthodoxy of its EngHsh. It should 
 not merely be idiomatic ; it should possess the merits 
 and even the graces of style. Wherever a rendering is 
 unnatural and smacks of the original, a halt should be 
 called, and improvement demanded. I believe I am 
 not extreme when I insist that no translation should 
 ever be accepted which would not, when written out, be 
 accepted as fit to print. It the pupil is not capable of 
 this, it must be either because he does not understand 
 the passage to be rendered, or else because he cannot 
 express in English a thought which his mind clearly 
 apprehends. Either of these difficulties, if it exist, 
 admits of remedy by judicious instruction. Such in- 
 struction may be slow, — both at the outset and often 
 afterwards, — for it involves frequent discussion as to 
 the choice of words and sentence-structure; but pre- 
 cisely herein lies the advantage of the study. I am well 
 aware of the pressure for time, and can appreciate the 
 temptation of the teacher to accept any rendering of a 
 passage, however un-English, provided it indicates that 
 the pupil apprehends the thought. But I insist that 
 there is no falser economy than a surrender under such 
 circumstances. Compromises of this sort not only do 
 not save time in the long run, but they ignore the very 
 principle and purpose of Latin study, and ought to 
 make that study stand in even less respect among the 
 general public than it actually does to-day. Yet I am 
 convinced that the habit of ignoring the form of transla- 
 tion, provided the pupil gets the sense, is practically 
 epidemic. More than this, the custom is even defended. 
 I know of teachers who soberly maintain their pref- 
 erence for a perfectly literal translation on the ground 
 that such a rendering facilitates the teaching of Latin 
 syntax. This attitude, I think, gives us the key to the 
 prevailing methods of translation from Latin into Eng- 
 
GENERAL POINTS 1 33 
 
 lish. Grammatical knowledge is often made the end of 
 Latin study instead of a means. Grammar is undoubt- 
 edly indispensable to the reading of Latin authors ; but 
 is it not a fact that many teachers stop at this point of 
 the subject, and re^t content, if their pupils can dispose 
 successfully of the ablatives and genitives, the subjunc- 
 tives and infinitives? Is not "construction" made the 
 culmination of the study, and the text used as though it 
 were but a convenient lay-figure upon which to drape 
 in imposing folds the robe of grammar and syntax? I 
 am convinced that there are many teachers whose atti- 
 tude and practice are not misrepresented by this com- 
 parison. My own view is that in reading an author the 
 amount of grammatical catechizing should be reduced 
 to a minimum ; let only so much be demanded as is ab- 
 solutely necessary to the proper understanding of the 
 text. Let all the effort be directed to the most dis- 
 criminating interpretation of the passage in hand as 
 language and literature. Let the study be an ethical 
 and spiritual one ; let the pupil feel when he approaches 
 it that he is to receive each day some fresh revelation of 
 the nature of mind and its workings. 
 
 b. Subject matter. As regards the subject matter of 
 authors read, I believe our secondary schools quite 
 generally make one very serious omission, sntject 
 They fail to emphasize the importance of Matter, 
 grasping the narrative or argument of a writer in its 
 continuity. The tendency is to read simply from day 
 to day. Too little effort — often none at all — is made 
 to bring successive lessons into relation, to show the 
 bearings and connection of the different parts .of a nar- 
 rative or speech. How few pupils after reading a book 
 of Csesar or an oration of Cicero have in their minds 
 any clear and consistent picture of the course of thought, 
 the line of argument, its strength and defects, or appre- 
 
134 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 hend the real drift of the piece as a whole ! Is not the 
 piece commonly made a succession of " takes,'' the 
 order of which might be varied ad libitum, so far as 
 concerns interference with any systematic endeavour to 
 show their organic connection ? And is not the impres- 
 sion left upon the minds of pupils often one of utter 
 vagueness as to what it is all about? I believe the 
 alleged defect to be very general ; and if it is, it surely 
 ought to be remedied at once. I know of no surer 
 way to kill all literary sense and encourage mechanical 
 formalism, than the exclusive employment of the ana- 
 lytic method of study, without ever a thought of syn- 
 thesis, — always taking apart, never putting together. 
 Such a process is destructive in more senses than one. 
 Let us not abandon analysis in our study of Latin, 
 but let us combine with it a larger use of synthetic 
 Importance methods. After a pupil has translated a 
 of Synthetic book of Caesar or an oration of Cicero, let 
 him, under the teacher's guidance, go care- 
 fully over the whole; let him build up thought on 
 thought, until he comes to see and feel the piece as a 
 unit. I believe that reform in this particular is widely 
 needed in the schools where Latin is taught. The 
 ancient languages are held to be instruments of culture ; 
 and so they are when rightly used. But culture implies 
 the apprehension of things in their relations. It is not 
 merely a familiarity with " the best that has been 
 thought and said." If it were, the Dictionary of Fa- 
 miliar Quotations would be the place to find it. Let 
 us bear this in mind as we teach the Latin classics ; let 
 us remember that they are not merely language, but — 
 what is much more — literature. 
 
 c. Grammar. Attention has been called above to 
 the danger of laying undue stress upon the importance 
 of syntax in connection with translation, even to the 
 
GENERAL POINTS 135 
 
 extent of neglecting the form of the Enghsh render- 
 ing and the proper understanding of what is read. 
 
 Grammatical work, however, has its place, 
 
 , . . , , r Grammar, 
 
 and a very important place, m the study of 
 
 Latin in the school. Even in connection with the daily 
 translation it must command some attention, while be- 
 sides this it should also be studied separately, I believe, 
 by way of regular lessons to be assigned for formal 
 recitation. 
 
 Considered from the purely intellectual point of view, 
 grammar is by no means the arid, profitless study that 
 many conceive it to be. Far from it. On 
 
 , ..... ..... Logical Dis- 
 
 the syntactical side in particular it brings us cipiine in 
 
 face to face with the severe problems of logic, 5*"^ "* 
 
 ^ ° Grammar. 
 
 and forces upon us the minute and conscien- 
 tious consideration of complex thought relationships. 
 Take the conditional sentence, for example. It is the 
 function of grammar to offer some classification of the 
 mass of material falling under this head. Usually 
 the basis of classification is found in the logical implica- 
 tion of the protasis of such sentences. Thus in one type 
 nothing whatever is implied as to the truth or falsity of 
 what is assumed in the protasis (' If death ends all, let 
 us eat, drink, and be merry'). In another type, the 
 protasis suggests that the substance of its content may 
 eventually be realized (' Should he come, I should refuse 
 him admittance ') ; while yet a third type as distinctly 
 implies that the supposed case is contrary to fact 
 ('Were I a rich man, I should gladly help you'). 
 The differentiation of these three types of protases is 
 something requiring a definite logical effort, and the 
 pupil who has learned accurately to distinguish the 
 three has made important attainments in the way of 
 grasping logical relationships. Particularly instructive 
 in this line is a study of the Latin equivalents of those 
 
136 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 treacherous modal auxiliaries ' may,' ' should,' ' would.' 
 Logical analysis shows that we have not merely one 
 ' may,' and one ' should,' etc., but several, — all clearly 
 distinct from each other in present logical value; so 
 that the pupil who is translating from English to Latin 
 is forced to make a mental equation of his " may,' 
 'should,' or 'would' before he can undertake to 
 render the thought in Latin. ' The class may please 
 turn to page 52' is one 'may'; 'Men may come and 
 men may go, but I go on forever,' is another ' may ' ; 
 ' To-morrow it may rain ' is another ; while ' From this 
 evidence we may easily .conclude ' ; ' You may think 
 to succeed in this audacity'; ' May I take this book?' 
 all represent yet other varieties of this elusive auxiliary, 
 whose capacity is by no means exhausted by the above 
 examples. As all of the above ' may's ' represent dis- 
 tinct logical ideas, so each one will demand a different 
 form of rendering in Latin, as will be readily recognised 
 by teachers. Equally varied are the ideas represented 
 by our English ' should ' and ' would ; ' and equally 
 varied, too, the mechanism of reproducing in Latin 
 the logical values which they represent. In short, con- 
 scientious grammatical study brings out, as nothing else 
 can, the fact that grammar is not a mechanical occupa- 
 tion dealing with dead formulas, but that its substance 
 is human thought in its infinite and stimulating variety. 
 Exceedingly valuable too is the insight afforded by 
 grammar into the psychology of language, — its life and 
 growth. Illustrations in abundance may be 
 drawn from sounds, inflexions, word-forma- sight into 
 
 tion, and syntax ; but the latter field alone Psyc^ioioey 
 
 of Language. 
 must serve our present purpose. The pupil 
 
 is puzzled at first to find the Latin ablative used with 
 
 comparatives in the sense of ' than,' but he easily sees 
 
 the psychology of the idiom when he learns that this 
 
GENERAL POINTS 1 37 
 
 use goes back to the true ablative or ' from '-case. 
 ' Marcus is taller than Quintus,' was, therefore, to the 
 Latin mind, ' Marcus is taller (reckoning) from Quintus 
 (as a standard) ' ; similarly the ablative of agent with 
 a is seen to go back to a ' from ' use of the case. The 
 sentence a Ccesare accusatiis est, originally at least, and 
 perhaps always, must to the Roman mind have meant 
 ' he was accused from Caesar,' i. e. the action proceeded 
 from Caesar as the agent. An especially instructive 
 illustration of the operation of the Roman folk-con- 
 sciousness is seen in the construction used with verbs 
 of fearing. Timeo ne veniat means ' I fear he will 
 come ' ; timeo ut veniat, ' I fear he will not come,' — 
 to the pupil's mind an apparent inversion of all reason. 
 But the explanation of this apparent anomaly is easily 
 furnished in the fact that the Latin forms of expression 
 have developed from subjunctives of wish: ne veniat 
 and ut veniat. These expressions originally meant 
 respectively ' may he not come,' ' may he only (uf) 
 come.' Timeo was at first added half-parenthetically 
 to express a fear that the wish might not be realized. 
 Thus timeo, ne veniat, from meaning ' may he not come ; 
 I am afraid (he will),' soon came to be felt as virtually 
 equivalent to ' I am afraid that he will come ' ; so timeo 
 ut veniat, ' I am afraid he will not come.' What we 
 thus translate, however, is not what is explicitly stated 
 in the Latin, but what is implied in that which is stated. 
 The foregoing are but familiar examples of what is 
 meant by the insight into the psychology of language 
 afforded by the study of grammar. Grammar takes 
 the pupil back to the origin of constructions, and impels 
 him to trace the evolution of the conventional forms of 
 speech. 
 
 We see other psychological forces at play also. 
 Analogy is a powerful factor in syntax, as it is in 
 
138 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 sounds and inflexions. Verbs of ' filling ' normally take 
 an ablative (developed from the ablative of means), 
 yet owing to the analogy of the genitive 
 with plenus, and adjectives of ' fulness,' we 
 find compounds of -pleo occasionally construed with 
 the genitive at all periods of the language. In oro, 
 uxorem ducas (' I beg you to get married '), the sub- 
 junctive, by origin, was a jussive, — ' Get married, I 
 beg you to.' But by analogy the subjunctive soon 
 came to figure in expressions where this logical expla- 
 nation could not apply, as seen in expressions like non 
 oro uxorem ducas (' I don't ask you to marry '), where 
 the explanation ' Marry a wife ; I don't beg you to,' 
 would be manifestly absurd. Grammar, too, shows how 
 arbitrary, language is. To denote price, definite or 
 indefinite, the ablative was originally employed ; to 
 denote value, definite or indefinite, the genitive was 
 employed. As a result of the near relationship of 
 these two conceptions of value and price, the two con- 
 structions naturally began to invade each other's terri- 
 tory. Four genitives, tanti, quanti, pluris, minoris, from 
 the earliest times on were mandatory with verbs of 
 ' buying ' and ' selling ' ; yet the construction of the gen- 
 itive with expressions of ' buying ' and ' seUing ' went 
 no further ; with all other expressions of indefinite price, 
 e. g. magna, maxima, parvo, minima, etc. the ablative 
 was as mandatory as was the genitive in tanti, quanti, 
 etc. There can hardly be profit in speculating upon the 
 causes for this distinction ; it simply illustrates the 
 fundamental arbitrariness of language in its historical 
 development. Language was not primarily a creation 
 of the logician, but an emanation from, and an evolu- 
 tion of, the folk-consciousness. The same forces which 
 brought it into existence determined in the main its 
 entire future career, and forever precluded the existence 
 
GENERAL POINTS 139 
 
 of an ideally perfect and consistent scheme of expres- 
 sion. What we see in syntax, therefore, is largely the 
 waywardness and inaccuracies of the popular mind. 
 Literary masters exercised a certain influence in giving 
 currency and character to those forms of speech which 
 they deemed superior in accuracy, simplicity, or effec- 
 tiveness ; but they could not create the forms themselves 
 or alter their moulds when once the forms were cast. 
 
 Syntax, too, shows us often the battle of two rival 
 constructions in a struggle for supremacy. No better 
 illustration of this general principle can be speech- 
 found than is exhibited by the history of the Rivalry, 
 constructions with similis. In our earliest Latinity 
 (Plautus), similis is construed with the genitive alone. 
 Later, probably under the influence of par and similar 
 words, similis begins to be construed with the dative. 
 The genitive, however, still continues in vogue and is 
 practically mandatory when the governed word is a 
 pronoun or the designation of a person. In point of 
 meaning, absolutely no distinction between the two 
 cases can be discovered ; we see simply a struggle for 
 supremacy between two rival forms of equivalent value. 
 As time goes on, it is evident that the invader (the 
 dative) is gaining ground rapidly. In the post-Au- 
 gustan writers the territory of the genitive becomes 
 narrower and narrower ; for a time the genitive of pro- 
 nouns is usual, but with other words, whether desig- 
 nations of persons or of things, the dative occupies the 
 field. Ultimately even the pronouns succumb to the 
 levelling tendency, till by the time of Apuleius the dative 
 is practically left in undisputed supremacy. 
 
 I have thus far been considering the functions of gram- 
 mar study, particularly syntactical study, — as a training 
 in logic and as illuminating general linguistic psychology. 
 Grammar has yet one other function which demands 
 
I40 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 recognition, — aesthetic training.' Such training is an in- 
 evitable result of a contemplation of excellences of style 
 iEstietic in the choicer masterpieces of Latin read in 
 Phases. ^^ schools. Being subtler than the other 
 kinds of training, to which attention has above been 
 called, it is less certain of effective communication by any 
 of the customary methods of instruction. We can ex- 
 plain facts and relationships, genesis and development, 
 to our pupils with tolerable assurance that they will 
 apprehend a lucid exposition of the truth. But when 
 it comes to matters of taste and feeling, the case is 
 different. We may indicate our own emotions and 
 our own appreciation, but there is no certainty of a 
 response on the pupil's part, as there is in the case of 
 a matter presented exclusively to his understanding. 
 Still the difficulties of communication on the teacher's 
 part and the limits of appreciation on the pupil's part 
 do not obliterate the existence of the function here 
 claimed for grammatical study; they simply prove that 
 there is less certainty of making this function effective. 
 But it is grammar that guides us through word-order 
 to a right appreciation of the relative prominence of 
 words, phrases, and clauses; it is grammatical study 
 that shows us the force of such rhetorical devices as 
 synchysis and chiasmus; and that tells us the difference 
 between the rapid summary of an asyndetic series as 
 compared with the cumulative effect of a polysyndeton. 
 It is nothing but objective grammatical study that can 
 tell us the subtle differences between the multitude of 
 synonymic constructions, revealing their shades of mean- 
 ing, their inward character, their elevation or their com- 
 monplaceness, their literary dignity or their every-day 
 colloquial nature. 
 
 ' See particularly Gildersleeve,^jjo)/jrtK</i'^«</w, p. 127 £., 'Grammar 
 and ^Esthetics.' 
 
GENERAL POINTS 141 
 
 d. How scientific should a school grammar be ? In 
 a strictly scientific grammar of Latin or any language, 
 the facts must be classified on the basis of historical 
 origin and historical relationships. A school gram- 
 mar, however, is not exclusively scientific, — at least 
 not in its arrangement of material. It must consult 
 largely pedagogical expediency. While faithful to the 
 facts, it must so state these and so arrange them as to 
 facilitate their ready comprehension and permanent 
 retention by the pupil. Yet within limits the scientific 
 ideal may be consulted and followed to advantage even 
 in a school manual. In our own country, Recent 
 the tendency during the last twenty years Tendencies, 
 has been to narrow so far as possible the chasm between 
 the purely pedagogical and severely scientific mode of 
 treatment. Wherever the scientific exposition or the 
 scientific grouping of facts can be readily adapted to 
 the understanding of pupils, there can hardly be any 
 question as to the propriety of conforming to the scien- 
 tific treatment. Writers of school grammars have not 
 been slow to see this, as is shown by the improvements 
 made in recent years in the direction of scientific accu- 
 racy. Thus it is not so very long ago that «-stems were 
 indiscriminately classed with consonant-stems of the 
 third declension. Yet historically these 2-stems were 
 as distinct from the consonant-stems as were nouns of 
 the fourth declension («-stems). Originally they had 
 terminations (in the accusative and ablative singular, 
 and in the genitive and accusative plural) which were 
 not shared at all by the consonant stems. Our recent 
 grammars recognise this fact explicitly ; many of them 
 also recognise a mixed class, consisting of those con- 
 sonant-stems which have partially adapted themselves 
 to the declension of the i-stems. Similarly the verb, 
 do, dare, despite the short a of its infinitive and its 
 
142 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 short root vowel in several inflected forms, was classed 
 as a verb of the first conjugation. Historically, how- 
 ever, do, dare, is an irregular verb, — just as irregular, 
 and irregular in the same way, as suvt, fero, volo, eo ; 
 i. e. it was unthematic, the personal endings being ap- 
 pended directly to the root without the use of any 
 connecting vowel. This fact is now quite generally 
 recognised in our grammars. In the same way the 
 Latin syntax of a quarter of a century ago has experi- 
 enced many radical improvements. The ablative with 
 utor, fruor, fungor, potior, and vescor used to be desig- 
 nated as an ablative in special construction. This was 
 arbitrary and unsatisfactory. To-day the pupil learns 
 that the ablative with these verbs is simply an ablative 
 of means. The naturalness of this is perfectly apparent 
 even to the elementary pupil so soon as he is reminded 
 that all these verbs were originally reflexive middles, 
 utor meaning 'I profit myself; fruor, 'I enjoy my- 
 self ; fungor, ' I busy myself ; potior, ' I make my- 
 self master ' ; vescor, ' I feed mysqlf.' Similarly in the 
 syntax of the verb, the tendency is strong at the present 
 day to introduce into our school grammars the true scien- 
 tific explanation of substantive clauses developed from 
 jussives and optatives. I refer to such expressions as 
 postulo abeas ; postulo ut abeas ; sino dicat ; licet abeas ; 
 oportet dicas ; velim veniat ; cupio ne veniat, etc. That 
 the dependent subjunctive in clauses of this type is not 
 a substantive clause of purpose, as it was formerly 
 explained, is made sufficiently clear both by the mean- 
 ing and history of these clauses. The subjunctive is 
 simply a jussive or optative that was once used para- 
 tactically and later came to be felt as the object or 
 subject of the main verb. This origin is so simple and 
 natural that it is capable of easy demonstration to the 
 secondary pupil. It is easy to show him that in postulo 
 
GENERAL POINTS 143 
 
 fiat or postulo ut fiat, the original sense was ' let it be 
 done ; I demand it ' ; so cupio ne veniat, ' may he not 
 come ; that 's my wish.' 
 
 In general it seems a safe principle that, wherever 
 the results of scientific advance in our knowledge of 
 Latin grammar are of such nature as to be a safe 
 apprehended by the pupils of the secondary Principle, 
 school, these results may claim a place in our school 
 grammars. Such incorporation would seem not merely 
 the right and privilege of the writer of a school grammar ; 
 I believe I am not going too far when I assert that it is 
 also his duty. In some cases a certain arbitrariness 
 even is justifiable. The construction of the ablative 
 with opus est is almost certainly of instrumental origin. 
 Yet this point cannot possibly be made clear to the 
 elementary pupil. To my mind, however, in a case 
 like this and in some similar cases, it is better to treat 
 the construction in the light of our best knowledge 
 rather than deliberately to inculcate what is untrue. 
 Care must, of course, be taken to distinguish between 
 what is scientifically established and what is mere ten- 
 tative hypothesis. Care must be taken, too, to avoid 
 the introduction of unnecessary and difficult explana- 
 tions of origins. Thus the subjunctive of result and 
 the subjunctive of characteristic are almost certainly 
 developments of the potential ( the ' should ' - ' would ' ) 
 subjunctive. Yet it is questionable whether it is wise 
 to treat these uses of the subjunctive as subordinate 
 potentials, as is done in a recently published Latin 
 grammar. For the ordinary pupil will detect no trace 
 of the ' should ' - • would ' idea in a sentence like Persce 
 ita territi sunt ut ad naves perfugerint, or in nemo fitit 
 gut non vulneraretur. While subjunctives like this were 
 almost certainly extensions and developments of the 
 'should' -'would' use, traces of the original value of 
 
144 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 these clauses have vanished so completely that probably 
 they can no longer be detected in one per cent of the 
 clauses of result and clauses of characteristic actually 
 met by the pupil. In cases of this kind it seems far 
 better, therefore, to offer to the pupil no explanation 
 of origins, but to content one's self with simply stating 
 the facts of usage. 
 
 e. The grammar a book to be studied and learned. 
 A deplorable tendency has manifested itself in recent 
 years to make the grammar primarily a 
 lect of the book of reference instead of a book to be 
 Grammar. thoroughly learned. The results of this atti- 
 tude are mevitable. From nearly every quarter come 
 complaints that students are steadily growing away from 
 the grammar; that they no longer know it as they once 
 did, in the days when the confident boast was made 
 that, if every copy of Andrews and Stoddard's Latin 
 Grammar were blotted out of existence, the boys of 
 One Reason ^he Boston Latin School would restore it in 
 for tus. a fortnight. One reason for the changed 
 attitude has been the excessive bulk of most of our 
 Latin grammars. Twenty years ago they were books 
 of modest size covering scarcely more than three hun- 
 dred pages of open typography. Since that time they 
 have quite generally swollen in bulk with successive 
 editions. Of these books the smallest now contains 
 four hundred and fifty pages, while of the others one 
 approaches five hundred pages, and a third nearly six 
 hundred pages. The open page, too, of the older books 
 has in their later editions become crowded ; where small 
 pica, long primer, and bourgeois formerly met the eye, 
 one now finds extensive paragraphs of minion or even 
 agate. 
 
 In all these changes the pupil of the secondary 
 school has distinctly suffered. The immense mass of 
 
GENERAL POINTS 145 
 
 material offered by these bulky grammars has made it 
 
 extremely difficult even for many teachers to determine 
 
 what is essential and unessential. Hence, the extensive 
 
 resort to the use of the grammar as a book of reference 
 
 and its extensive abandonment as a subject of thorough 
 
 formal study. This aloofness from the gram- significance of 
 
 mar has led quite naturally to the copious whoieMiein- 
 
 . ^ ... . , trodnctlon of 
 
 mtroduction of grammatical references in the References in 
 
 notes of our secondary school texts. In the ""^ "i^^^- 
 days when pupils used to become masters of the Latin 
 grammar the introduction of such wholesale references 
 would have seemed little less than an impertinence. 
 To-day when the grammar is no longer regarded as 
 something for independent mastery, these references 
 are naturally welcomed by the pupil and teacher alike. 
 But experience shows that they do not teach grammar. 
 A recent Virgil contains in the notes to six books of the 
 yEneid no fewer than one thousand grammatical refer- 
 ences, — many of them to such familiar constructions as 
 the ablative of means, the subjunctive of purpose, etc., 
 showing that even in his fourth year the pupil still 
 seems to need assistance in the simplest syntactical 
 problems. It is entirely natural that he should still 
 need such assistance, for the very abundance of gram- 
 matical references always supplied in the notes of the 
 text studied inevitably begets the habit of depending 
 upon such references for grammatical help and as irre- 
 sistibly destroys the independent acquisition of what 
 every Latin pupil of the secondary school ought to 
 know with the greatest certainty and accuracy. 
 
 The bulky grammars of the last decade or more have 
 been valuable manuals for the advanced college student, 
 but they have, I believe, signally proved their lack of 
 adaptation to the needs of secondary pupils. If such 
 pupils need to master some grammar, it is indispensable 
 
146 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 that they be provided with a grammar that can be 
 learned. What is needed is a manual that states the 
 Hecessitv for essential facts of the language with scientific 
 acompendi- accuracy and in clear form. In this matter 
 •"^ '^ • we Americans may well be guided by the ex- 
 perience of the Germans. German experience in recent 
 years has tended to restrict the bulk of school grammars 
 both of Latin and of Greek, and has demanded the incor- 
 poration of the main principles of the language in com- 
 pact manuals of less than three hundred pages. Books of 
 this compass now hold the field in Germany, and have for 
 the last fifteen years proved more and more conclusively 
 their ability to meet the severe demands of the German 
 gymnasial course, — a course representing quite as much 
 in scope and content, and more in thoroughness, than 
 that pursued by the average American graduate who 
 has studied Latin in school and college. To be ade- 
 quate for the requirements of the average student, a 
 Latin grammar does not need to include all the facts 
 of the Latin language. Isolated or peculiar idioms of 
 form or syntax met in the course of reading are prop- 
 erly explained in the accompanying notes ; it is quite 
 unnecessary and quite unwise, especially in a grammar 
 intended primarily for beginners, to give an account 
 of every special deviation from normal usage. To 
 give space to these is to incur serious risk of distorting 
 the true perspective of actual usage. What the pupil 
 needs to know is the main facts of the language. If he 
 acquires these as his primary equipment, he will the 
 better appreciate the relative importance and frequency 
 of exceptional usages by noting such points in con- 
 nection with his reading. 
 
 Dettweuer's In discussing the features which should 
 toauJai to-day characterize a Latin Grammar in- 
 Grammar. tended for use in secondary education in Ger- 
 
GENERAL POINTS \Ar7 
 
 many, Dettweiler ^ emphasizes, among other points, the 
 following : 
 
 I. The Latin Grammar must limit itself to a statement 
 of those facts and laws of usage which are common to all 
 Latin writers. All individual pecuHarities should be left 
 for the philologians. 
 
 It has been justly observed that Latin syntax conveys 
 the impression of something definite, fixed, and ener- 
 getic; that it is dominated by a spirit of strict subordi- 
 nation, and that these features of the language are an 
 accurate mirror of the essential spirit of the Romans 
 themselves with their respect for authority and for law. 
 Yet this impression of the language certainly fails of 
 being gained by the pupil if he is confronted with a host 
 of exceptions and linguistic peculiarities which hold 
 only for individual writers. The grammar should give 
 systematically the fundamental laws of the language, 
 therefore; the exceptions should be noted as they occur 
 in the individual authors. 
 
 2. There should be but one grammar, not a shorter 
 and a longer? If the grammar is to be used, it must be 
 a book in which the pupil can become thoroughly at 
 home. The acquired local memory for things as they 
 stand on the printed page is something that comes only 
 with time, and is a not inconsiderable factor in promot- 
 ing an intelligent retention of what has been learned. 
 The grammar, too, should, in its arrangement and its 
 diction, agree with that of the beginner's book. 
 
 3. The Latin grammar should not be ultra-puristic 
 in its basis ; i. e. it should not assume a single author as 
 the sole representative of correct or model Latin, and 
 base the laws of the language upon his diction. For a 
 
 1 In Baumeister's Handbuch der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre 
 fiir hohere Schulen, vol. iii. Part iii. Lateinisch, p. 32 ft 
 
 2 The italics correspond to Dettweiler's spaced type. 
 
148 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 long time Cicero's usage was taken as the basis of stand- 
 ard Latin. What was found in him — and nothing else 
 — might be imitated. The tendency was even carried 
 further, and certain special features of Cicero's diction 
 were canonized as specially qualified to serve as repre- 
 sentatives of pure Latin. This is not only irrational ; it is 
 ludicrous. It betokens a desire to be more Roman than 
 the Romans themselves. We may fairly take the atti- 
 tude that anything found in representative writers of the 
 best period is correct Latin, even though it do not once 
 occur in Cicero. The fact that a form of expression 
 is not represented in that author is by no means con- 
 clusive evidence that he would have repudiated it. 
 Even assuming that he would, it is unreasonable for us 
 to exalt any single writer, however gifted in his style, 
 to the position of authority which in the past has so fre- 
 quently been ascribed to Cicero. 
 
 4. It is desirable that the Latin Grammar in a supple- 
 mentary chapter embrace the chief features of Latin 
 style, i. e. the essential points of stylistic difference be- 
 tween Latin and the vernacular of the pupil. 
 
 Most Latin grammars which have appeared in Ger- 
 many in recent years recognise the validity of the fore- 
 going propositions. Particularly as regards the first and 
 second of the four points enumerated, there prevails the 
 most hearty unanimity, as may be seen by a glance at 
 the appended lists ^ of the leading Latin grammars now 
 in vogue in Germany. 
 
 LIST A. 
 Books Shortened in Becent Tears. 
 
 Ellendt-Seyffert. 34th ed., Berlin, 1890, 303 pp. ; 37th ed. 1893, 
 265 pp.; 53d ed. 1909, 265 pp. 
 
 Lattmann-MuUer. 6th ed., Gottingen, 1890, 324 pp. ; 7th ed. 1892, 
 256 pp. 
 
 ' Brought down to 1909. 
 
GENERAL POINTS 1 49 
 
 Schmidt, Karl, 5th ed., Vienna, i88o, 296[pp.; 6th ed., improved and 
 abbreviated, 1S83 270 pp. ; 7th ed., again improved and abbreviated, 
 1894, 236 pp. ; loth ed., 1904, 236 pp. 
 
 LIST B. 
 Books slightly Iiengthened in Becent Years. 
 
 Harre, Kleine Lateinische Grammatik, Berlin, 2d ed., 1901, 228 pp. ; 
 3d ed., 1908, 252 pp. 
 
 Scheindler, Leipzig and Vienna, ist ed., 1889, 212 pp. ; 2d ed., 1892, 
 239 PP- ; 7tli ed., 1908, 240 pp. 
 
 Landgraf, Bamberg, 3d ed., 1893, 263 pp. ; 9th ed., igo8, 300 pp. 
 
 Stegmann, Leipzig, 5th ed., i8go, 250 pp. ; 10th ed., 1908, 289 pp. 
 
 Schmalz-Wagner, Bielefeld, ist ed., 1891, 233 pp. ; 5th ed., 1901, 315 pp. 
 
 LIST C. 
 
 Books whose Bulk has remained practically unaltered in Successive 
 Editions, or which have recently appeared in a First Sdition. 
 
 Holzweissig, Hannover, 5th ed., 1894, 224 pp. ; 25th ed., 1909, 222 pp. 
 Goldbacher, Vienna, 2d ed., 1886, 284 pp. ; 9th ed., 1907, 286 pp. 
 Friedersdorfif, Berlin, ist ed., 1893, 201 pp. ; 2d ed., 1897, 204 pp. 
 Harre, Berlin, 3d ed., 1893, 358 pp. ; 4th ed., 1899-1900, 366 pp. 
 
 These lists are exceedingly instructive. Of twelve 
 leading Latin grammars now published in Germany 
 but two exceed three hundred pages. Three signiflcance 
 popular grammars in extensive use have been of these Lists, 
 reduced from books of over three hundred pages to 
 an average of about two hundred and sixty pages each. 
 Of books lengthened in recent years but one exceeds 
 three hundred pages ; while the same is true also of the 
 new grammars of recent years. 
 
ISO CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 Recent movements in this country tend to show that 
 the working grammar of American secondary schools is 
 to be a book constructed upon the plan so extensively and 
 so successfully followed abroad, namely, that of a clear 
 and concise statement of the essential facts with careful 
 ehmination of superfluous erudition. Within the last 
 five years no fewer than six grammars of moderate 
 compass have appeared in the United States, while as 
 many more are reported to be now in preparation. 
 This timely recognition of the interests of the secondary 
 pupil is a gratifying augury for the future of Latin study 
 in our schools. 
 
 II. Special Points to be Emphasized in Connection with the 
 different Latin Authors read in the Secondary School.^ 
 
 a. CcBsar? i. Study the military system of the 
 Romans, and make it the subject of systematic pres- 
 Cffisar. entation to the class. Have the pupils 
 Miutaiy understand how the legion was organized and 
 System, officered. Study military evolutions, methods 
 of siege, equipments, arms, engines, — in fine, everything 
 that is embraced in this department of antiquities. All 
 our editions of Csesar now have admirable summaries of 
 the chief facts belonging under this head, so that well- 
 digested information is easily accessible to the student.^ 
 A familiarity with these military details cannot fail to 
 lend greater interest to the reading of Csesar's narrative ; 
 
 1 The attempt is here made merely to suggest a few salient points 
 whose recognition in teaching seems of importance for a proper under- 
 standing of the author read. Many other points will inevitably suggest 
 themselves to the teacher. 
 
 2 See in general the exhaustive work of T. Rice Holmes, Casar's 
 Conquest of Gaul. The Macmillan Co. 1899. 
 
 ^ A somewhat fuller presentation is found in H. P. Judson, Cissar's 
 Army, Boston. Ginn & Co. 1887. 
 
CjF.SAR 151 
 
 it possesses, too, an undoubted culture value which will 
 well repay the time devoted to its attainment. 
 
 2. At some stage in the study of the commentaries 
 set forth the motives that actuated Csesar in his Gallic 
 campaigns. Have the pupil understand that casar's 
 all this seven years' fighting was not without Motives. 
 
 a purpose, that very likely it was begun and continued 
 in the exercise of great political sagacity by a master- 
 mind, — a mind that apprehended the superiority of 
 the Roman civilization and foresaw the inevitable clash 
 between the expanding dominion of Rome and the 
 politically defective institutions of her neighbours. 
 Show further what were the specific defects of the 
 Gallic civilization of Caesar's day. Explain tEe forces at 
 work among the Celts, — all eccentric ; the growth of 
 the city arrested at a primitive stage, as in Greece ; no 
 tendency toward centralization or national unity. All 
 this may easily be put so that the pupil will easily 
 understand how necessary it was that Rome should in- 
 tervene with her institutions in order to secure political 
 stability among the Gauls and to lay solid foundations 
 for the future civilization of western Europe. On this 
 subject the pupil will find some admirable suggestions 
 by Mommsen in his Roman History, Book v. chapter 
 vii. ' The Subjugation of the West.' 
 
 3. Lastly, the attempt may be made to give some little 
 sketch of the institutions (civil and religious) of the chief 
 nations mentioned by Csesar, namely, the 
 
 Gauls, the Germans, and the Britons. Much 
 of the material on these topics will naturally be fur- 
 nished by Caesar himself, but it will need supplementing 
 with matter from other sources. 
 
 b. Cicero. Cicero is important not only for his good 
 Latin and his usually good style, but particularly for 
 the light that his orations throw upon contemporary 
 
152 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 history. The speeches against CatiHne are of the 
 
 first importance, reveahng, as they do, the 
 
 political and social unrest of the day, — an 
 
 omen of the complete collapse of the republican 
 
 organization. 
 
 All the orations, too, afford the best opportunity for 
 
 the study of the actual workings of the machinery of 
 
 the Roman state. Every pupil ought to 
 Roman ...,., 
 
 Pouticai understand, at least m its mam outhnes, the 
 
 organiza- Roman constitution, the functions of the 
 
 tion. 
 
 magistrates, — consuls, praetors, aediles, cen- 
 sors, tribunes, quaestors, etc., — the organization and 
 jurisdiction of the Senate, the functions of the various 
 popular assemblies, especially the Comitia Centuriata, 
 the Comitia Tributa, the Concilium Plebis, the methods 
 of provincial administration, and the other fundamental 
 features of the old Roman public life. Here again the 
 introductions to our recent editions of Cicero's speeches 
 afford excellent guidance. Gow's Companion to School 
 Classics also contains some condensed information on 
 this point. 
 
 Cicero's character, too, stands out in clear relief in his 
 orations. It is important that the teacher endeavour 
 Cicero's ^ guide the pupil to an understanding and 
 Personality, appreciation of Cicero as a man, — always of 
 good intentions, and of high moral purpose, yet vain, 
 of narrow political vision, and often lacking strength of 
 character in emergencies. If possible, the pupil should 
 be stimulated to read parts, at least, of some of the 
 more recent lives of the great orator, e. g. Trollope's 
 Life of Cicero or Strachan-Davidson's Cicero and the 
 Fall of the Roman Republic. 
 
 Even despite Cicero's undeniable merits as a stylist, 
 yet he is far from faultless. It will be a mistake to 
 endeavour to conceal this fact from the pupil. Cicero 
 
CICERO AND VIRGIL 153 
 
 is often culpably redundant. Worse than that, this 
 
 very exuberance of diction is not infrequently the cloak 
 
 for defective logic or lack of argument. „ 
 A • /-■• • <• Cicero's 
 
 Again, Cicero is often guilty of gross exag- styUstic 
 
 geration of the truth. In short, even in his "**"=*'• 
 political speeches, it is often the attorney that stands 
 before us rather than the statesman or the candid 
 student of affairs. All this is perfectly natural when 
 we consider the heated partisanship and desperate 
 struggles of the day; yet it is nevertheless a factor 
 which cannot be ignored in any fair judgment of 
 Cicero's speeches when considered by the standard of 
 absolute truth, sincerity, and artistic form. 
 
 c. Virgil's jEneid. The jEneid is one of the world's 
 great poems. Yet the pupil needs guidance and assist- 
 ance in order properly to appreciate this fact, virgii. 
 He is naturally inclined to judge the ^neid Greatness of 
 by purely modern standards. Considered in ^^ -ffineid. 
 this light the poem undoubtedly possesses glaring de- 
 fects. To our modern sense, .^neas is anything but 
 a romantic character. His desertion of the ^j^^ ^,^^^_ 
 fated Dido brings him instant condemnation acter of 
 on the part of all of us. But the pupil should 
 be made to judge this act in the antique light. As a 
 servant of the gods, and the instrument for executing their 
 decrees, ^neas's only course was to obey their com- 
 mands. His abandonment of the Punic queen was not the 
 result of the waning of a brief fancy ; it was dictated from 
 on high, and demanded the resolution and courage of a 
 hero for its execution. The epithet /^W, too, conveys 
 to the English and American mind an unfortunate con- 
 notation. The English pious does not to us suggest the 
 hero. It suggests instead a combination of dogmatic 
 theology and respect for the forms of some estab- 
 lished cult. This suggestion is so strong that, where 
 
154 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 pious is used (and it generally is) as a rendering for the 
 'Lz.'impius, in pius JEneas, the pupil attaches the quali- 
 ties of weakness rather than of strength to the central 
 figure of this great epic. Pius ^neas almost defies 
 translation in our own language. Virgil wishes to de- 
 pict his hero as faithful to his whole duty toward his 
 parent, his wife, his child, his fellow-men, and above 
 all toward the gods. This was pietas, — one of the 
 cardinal Roman virtues, as it is one of the cardinal vir- 
 tues of all times. Virgil wishes to exhibit ^neas to us 
 as devoted, as tender, as loyal, faithful, just, sympa- 
 thetic, reverent, and obedient ; — all of this and doubt- 
 less more is contained in the one epithet //«.f, for which 
 our own language possesses no adequate single equiv- 
 alent. Nor is .iEneas deficient in the sturdier virtues so 
 prized by the ancients. He is patient in trouble ; he is 
 courageous in disaster ; he is valiant in the fight. As a 
 representative of martial prowess he is, of course, less 
 conspicuous than the Homeric heroes. But while most 
 of these excel only in hewing and smiting, ^neas 
 exhibits a robustness of moral virtue almost totally 
 lacking in the great figures of the Iliad, and not yet 
 prominent even in the Odyssey. 
 
 The character of .lEneas, then, must be interpreted 
 by antique, not by modern, standards. To understand 
 JE,nedLS we must go back to the conception of society, 
 of the state, and of man's place in the world, which pre- 
 vailed twenty centuries ago. Viewed in this light ^Eneas 
 will be seen to be the embodiment of the moral qualities 
 that constituted the very essence of the Roman character. 
 
 Another feature of the j^neid which sometimes 
 causes adverse criticism is the great extent of Virgil's 
 The Ciiarge indebtedness to Homer and to earlier Latin 
 of Imitation, poets. This borrowing is evident on every 
 page. In phrase, in epithet, in figure, in simile;, Virgil 
 
VIRGIL 155 
 
 has freely appropriated whatever served his purpose. 
 But in so doing he was only following the prevailing 
 custom of his day, and this free appropriation of the 
 structural elements of which the ALneid is composed 
 should not blind us to the majesty of the original ideas 
 which Virgil has incorporated in the poem. After all, 
 it is only in unessential externals that the ^neid is 
 an imitative poem. Just as the character of unique Roman 
 .(Eneas himself is instinct with the cardinal ^'at^^^- 
 Roman virtues, so the ^tieid as a whole breathes an 
 intensely national spirit, in that it gives such decisive 
 expression to the idea of Rome's mission in the world ; 
 her consciousness of imperial destiny ; her function as 
 mistress of the nations and the civilizer of mankind. 
 This idea is finely wrought into the whole fabric of the 
 poem, reaching its climax in vi. 847 If. : 
 
 " Excudent alii spirantia moUius aera, 
 Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus, 
 Orabunt causas melius, caelique meatus 
 Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent : 
 Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento — 
 Hae tibi erunt artes — pacisque imponere morem, 
 Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos." 
 
 Linked with this intensely national spirit is the poet's 
 sincere admiration for the Emperor Augustus. Pro- 
 foundly impressed with the horrors of Rome's 
 recent past, conscious of the necessity of a 
 new political order, and imbued with a deep faith that 
 in Augustus lay the only hope for the moral and politi- 
 cal regeneration of the state, Virgil lent his whole 
 energy to the glorification of the Julian house, sur- 
 rounding its past with the most splendid halo that his 
 imagination could suggest, in the evident endeavour to 
 increase its present prestige and perpetuate its beneficent 
 influence. 
 
156 CONDUCT OF THE WORK 
 
 It is well that the pupil should appreciate the fore- 
 going points in reading the ^neid. For only so can 
 he appreciate the true proportions of the character of 
 ^neas and the genuine originality and majesty of the 
 poem as a whole. For some further excellent sugges- 
 tions concerning the study of the JEneid, see Elizabeth 
 H. Haight, " An Experience with the ^neid." SCHOOL 
 Review, Vol. XVI ( 1906), p. 5 78 ff. At p. 585 f. a very 
 full bibliography of the literature on Virgil is given. 
 
 d. Use of translations. In connection with the daily 
 work of the pupil it is often possible for the teacher to 
 make effective use of translations. This work may take 
 two forms: 
 
 1. The teacher may read aloud to the class a transla- 
 tion of the work thus far covered by the pupils. This 
 procedure helps greatly to intensify the pupil's synthetic 
 conception of what he has already studied. He now 
 sees as an organic whole the campaign, the speech, or 
 the epic episode which he has previously studied slowly 
 and laboriously in Caesar, Cicero, or Virgil. 
 
 2. Again, the teacher may read to the class other por- 
 tions of Caesar and Virgil than those read in the course, 
 or other speeches of Cicero. Only relatively few pupils 
 read in school all of the Gallic War or all of the ^neid, 
 while none ever read more than ten or a dozen of 
 Cicero's speeches. By means of translations, oppor- 
 tunity is thus offered for widely extending the pupil's 
 apprehension of Latin on the " content " side of the 
 study. The concluding portions of the Gallic War 
 constitute beyond question the most absorbing part of 
 Caesar's entire narrative. The last six books of the 
 ^neid also, while perhaps inferior in interest to the 
 earlier books, are well worth careful reading. It is a 
 satisfaction, too, to have read all of these two works, 
 even though partly in translation. Of Cicero's orations 
 
TRANSLA TIONS I S 7 
 
 there are many that give the pupil a better conception 
 of the poHtical conditions of the day than can well be 
 secured by any other means. Thus the Verrine ora- 
 tions give us a picture of the extent to which the mal- 
 administration of the provinces might be carried by an 
 unscrupulous governor. The pro Milone exhibits the 
 excesses of partisan turbulence in the last days of the 
 republic, while the whole series of the Philippics shows 
 us Cicero in the fullest dignity and loftiness of character 
 manifested during his entire career. 
 
 Thoroughly satisfactory translations of all the fore- 
 going works, it must be admitted, are not at present 
 easily accessible. For Virgil we have numerous good 
 versions both in prose and verse. For Caesar we have 
 the vigorous and scholarly rendering of T. R. Holmes 
 (London, Macmillan & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, The 
 Macmillan Co.). But for Cicero the Bohn translation 
 is the only available one known to me. Still this last, 
 with all its defects, may be made to do good service, 
 while the demand for something better is sure in time 
 to be amply met. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 IiATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 There is probably no subject in the entire range of 
 
 secondary Latin teaching upon which there exists such 
 
 a radical difference of opinion as upon the best way of 
 
 The Two Dif- teaching Latin composition. This divergence 
 
 ferent Ways of view is clearly represented in two kinds of 
 of TeacUng it. , , ^ . , , , 
 
 manuals prepared for use m the secondary 
 
 schools. These books may be conveniently designated 
 as the old-fashioned and the new. The plan of the old- 
 THe Tradi- fashioned book, which still commands great 
 aonai Method, confidence and respect (as I shall hope to 
 show it deserves), is to take up the various grammatical 
 categories in turn. The treatment is severely syste- 
 matic, following closely the order and classification of the 
 same material as presented in the Grammar. Thus the 
 various case- and mood-constructions are taken up in 
 turn. The lesson begins with references to the Gram- 
 mar covering the subject under discussion. These 
 references are followed by sentences to be memorized, 
 illustrating the syntactical principles involved. A 
 vocabulary of new words (also to be memorized) is 
 added, and the lesson culminates in a series of English 
 sentences to be turned into Latin; these sentences, of 
 course, involve the repeated application of the syntac- 
 tical principles which the lesson is designed to illustrate 
 and enforce. This is the old-fashioned plan of teaching 
 Latin composition. 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 1 59 
 
 The new-fashioned plan was first championed and 
 made available in this country in the books of Mr. 
 Collar and Mr. Daniell. Almost simultane- ^^^ jj^^gj. 
 ously in the year 1889, each of these educators Plan, 
 issued a Latin Composition of a novel sort. The plan is 
 this: 
 
 The pupil is given a piece of continuous discourse to 
 turn into Latin. This piece of continuous discourse is 
 based upon a passage of original Latin which the pupil 
 has already read, and to which he is now specifically re- 
 ferred. The book is furnished with no English-Latin 
 vocabularies, either special or general. It has no model 
 sentences to be committed to memory. The English 
 given for translation into Latin is naturally a rather close 
 imitation of the original. A fair sample of what is usu- 
 ally set may be seen by comparing a translation of Caesar, 
 De Bella Gallico, iv. 19, with an exercise of the sort men- 
 tioned which is based upon it.^ The translation of the 
 Caesar passage runs as follows : " Caesar having lingered a 
 few days in their territory, having burned all their villages 
 and dwellings, and cut down all their grain, marched 
 into the country of the Ubii ; having promised these his 
 help in case they should be hard pressed by the Suebi, 
 he heard the following news : The Suebi upon learning 
 through scouts that a bridge was being built, held a 
 council according to their custom, and sent messengers 
 in all directions urging the people to move away, and 
 place their wives, children, and all their possessions in 
 the woods." 
 
 The English modelled upon this, and set for trans- 
 lation, is as follows : 
 
 "Caesar tarried a few days in the territory of the 
 Sugambri until he could cut down their grain ; then went 
 
 1 Taken at random from Moulton, Preparatory Latin Composition, p. 75. 
 
l6o LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 to the country of the Ubii, whom he promised to free 
 
 from the oppression of the Suebi. Meanwhile the latter 
 
 had sent messengers in all directions announcing that a 
 
 bridge was being built over the Rhine by Caesar, and 
 
 urging the women and children to flee to the woods." 
 
 Before making any comments upon this exercise, let 
 
 us get well before us, if we can, the purpose of Latin 
 
 composition. Why is it to be studied in the 
 The Purpose , , ,,„ , . ,. , _,, 
 
 of Studying schools ? What does it accomplish ? i he 
 
 Lattn Com- fleld may be partially cleared by stating, first, 
 what it does not accomplish, at least in the 
 school, namely, an ability to write continuous Latin with 
 fluency and ease. Whatever be the purpose of the study. 
 What It does '*■ cannot be that. For I am convinced no 
 not Accom- one ever does learn to write Latin of this kind 
 piish. jj^ ^j^g school by any method of study yet 
 
 devised, despite the occasional prescription of an ability 
 to write simple Latin prose in the entrance requirements 
 of, our colleges. In fact, even in the college itself the 
 ability to compose continuous Latin prose is a capacity 
 acquired by but few, — chiefly those who specialize 
 somewhat carefully in the classical field. 
 
 What, then, is the purpose and function of Latin com- 
 position in the secondary school ? So far as reason and 
 experience enable me to judge, the study of Latin com- 
 To Increase position is primarily intended to increase the 
 Knowledge accuracy, breadth, and certainty of the 
 oi Grammar, pypjj'g grammatical knowledge, — more par- 
 ticularly his knowledge of syntax. He first learns the 
 Subjunctive of Purpose, let us say, or the Gerundive 
 construction, by learning to recognise these idioms when 
 How it he meets them in his reading. But this is 
 
 Achieves only partial knowledge. A completer knowl- 
 edge of the Subjunctive of Purpose or the 
 Gerundive construction is acquired when the pupil 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION l6l 
 
 learns to employ these in actual phrases of his own 
 making. He then sees these constructions from a new 
 side, and a practical side. The act of constructing sen- 
 tences which contain these, fixes his mind more in- 
 tently upon the construction than ever before. His 
 knowledge of it is fuller and surer. Hence it is prima- 
 rily as contributory to a better knowledge of the gram- 
 mar, that the study of Latin composition is of value. 
 Incidentally it does give initial instruction in composing 
 Latin, should the pupil ever get far enough along in his 
 study of Latin to venture to undertake actual serious 
 composition in that language. But the school can give 
 nothing but the elementary technique of composition, if 
 we use this word in the sense of composing continuous 
 Latin. Just as in the case of drawing in the schools, the 
 object of the study is not to make artists of the pupils: 
 the elementary technique of the art is given them ; but 
 the justification of the study must be found in the 
 quickened observational power, and in the training of 
 the hand which drawing brings. 
 
 Such, now, being the purpose of the study of Latin 
 Composition, namely, the acquirement of a deeper and 
 surer and more subjective mastery of Latin grammar, 
 the question presents itself. Which of the two plans 
 sketched at the outset of our discussion is likely to 
 prove the better, the old-fashioned plan or the new- 
 fashioned ? My conviction is emphatically in favour of the 
 old-fashioned plan. The old-fashioned plan 
 is systematic. The problem is to teach the yonai 
 various grammatical categories, to enforce MeUiod more 
 them and bring them home to the pupil, so 
 that he will feel them with a new intensity. The old- 
 fashioned plan seems to me admirably adapted to bring- 
 ing this about, because, I say, it is systematic. It takes 
 the different constructions, one at a time, and t:reats them 
 
1 62 LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 by a large number of illustrative sentences. Thus, 
 
 under the Clause of Characteristic, or under the Ablative 
 
 Absolute, so many illustrative sentences are given that a 
 
 definite and deep impression is conveyed, and one may 
 
 count on the pupil's getting a firm hold of the idioms 
 
 under discussion. In the new-fashioned plan, on the 
 
 other hand, there is no such massing. The Ablative 
 
 Absolute or Clause of Characteristic may be involved in 
 
 a single sentence of a given exercise, and then not met 
 
 again for weeks. Now a vital psychological principle 
 
 seems to me to be involved here. All my experience 
 
 with pupils has taught me to believe in the virtue of the 
 
 Advantages amplest possible illustration of everything 
 
 of Massing difficult, and of massing this illustration at a 
 
 ninstrations . . , .° . . 
 
 ofaPrtn- given time, mstead of scattermg it sporadi- 
 
 '^'^^- cally over a longer period of time, and further 
 
 of massing it on one thing at a time, and not distrib- 
 uting diluted illustrations on a multitude of different 
 things. Thus, to be concrete : The Clause of Charac- 
 teristic is difficult. It needs much illustration. Let us 
 say, illustration by means of twelve English sentences 
 to be turned into Latin. My experience leads me to 
 believe that these twelve illustrative sentences would 
 better be massed at one time, than distributed over a 
 dozen separate lessons, as done by the new-fashioned 
 plan, and that until that massing is consummated, and 
 the Clause of Characteristic, or whatever else it may be, 
 is amply illustrated and the intended impression made 
 upon the pupil's mind, — until this is done, other idioms 
 and constructions would better stand aside. It is for 
 precisely this reason that I distrust the new-fashioned 
 way of pursuing the study of Latin composition. To 
 me it seems psychologically defective. It does not 
 mass; it scatters. 
 
 Moreover, the old-fashioned plan employs yet other 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 1 63 
 
 resources for massing which the new method lacks. 
 The systematic grammar lesson, and the illustrative 
 examples which precede the exercise, help materially to 
 intensify and deepen the impression intended to be con- 
 veyed by the lesson as a whole. 
 
 The new-fashioned plan also seems to me open to 
 criticism on the ground of the extremely slight degree 
 of effort which it demands of the pupil in ^^^ Hewer 
 those parts of the exercise really within the rianue- 
 pupil's power, while on the other hand nearly independent 
 every exercise bristles with difficulties whose ^^o"^- 
 adequate solution is far beyond the capacity of nearly 
 all pupils and of very many teachers. The existence 
 of these difficulties is implicitly recognised in yet in p rts 
 the publication of keys for teachers to accom- it is too 
 pany books of the new-fashioned kind. But ^ *' 
 if teachers find books of this sort so difficult as to feel 
 compelled to resort to keys, what is to be said of the 
 adaptation of such exercises to the ordinary pupil ? 
 
 Reverting now to the exercise based on Caesar, De 
 Bella Gallico, iv. 19, let us examine somewhat minutely 
 the nature of the disciphne which a pupil in ta. concrete 
 the secondary school is likely to derive from mnstration. 
 the attempt to put it into Latin. The passage is an 
 extremely fair sample of the exercises in all books of 
 this type. It was chosen by a random opening of the 
 book. 
 
 The passage for translation into Latin begins: 
 " Caesar tarried a few days in the territory of the 
 Sugambri." Turning to the Latin on which this pas- 
 sage is based, the pupil will easily see that he is to write : 
 Ccesar paucos dies in Sugambrorum finibus moratus est, 
 or, following the hint of the foot-note, moratus alone. 
 The exercise continues : " until he could cut down their 
 grain." This clause in its English is unfortunately 
 
1 64 LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 inexact. Taken as they stand, the words mean that 
 Csesar waited until he should have the ability to cut 
 down the grain, z. e. procure tools and command the 
 necessary leisure for the operation. But it seems much 
 more likely that the author means that Csesar tarried 
 for the purpose of cutting down the grain. If we adopt 
 this latter view of the meaning of the clause, the Latin 
 will be dum eorum frumenta sue cider et ; if we take the 
 words literally, the Latin will be dum eorum frumenta 
 succidere posset. But it is not easy to see how the pupil 
 is to command the proper form of expression in either 
 case, unless he has received some formal drill on em- 
 ploying dum-c\2MSQ% of this kind, — the very feature 
 which books of this type avoid on principle. Thus, 
 while in the first clause of the sentence before us, prac- 
 tically no effort was required of the pupil in providing 
 the Latin rendering, in the second clause he is likely 
 to meet with difficulties beyond his capacity. Let us 
 pass to the next sentence of the English : " then went 
 to the country of the Ubii, whom he promised to free 
 from the oppression of the Suevi." A glance at the 
 original Latin shows the pupil at once that " went into 
 the country of the Ubii " is se in fines Ubiorum recepit. 
 The concluding relative clause, however, involves a diffi- 
 culty, in the use of the proper mood, tense, and subject 
 accusative, which only a minute and sustained study of 
 the principles of indirect discourse will enable the pupil 
 to meet with confidence and certainty. The Latin 
 equivalent for the relative clause is : quos se obsidione 
 Sueborum liberaturum esse pollicitus est. But to my 
 mind there seems slight probability that many pupils 
 can be counted on to know this unless they have 
 had the special training in this idiom which books of 
 the type under consideration expressly evade giving. 
 The next paragraph of the English begins : " Mean- 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 165 
 
 while the latter had sent messengers in all directions." 
 If the pupil's memory is good he will probably begin by 
 writing Hi interea and continue by changing the nuntios 
 in onrnes partes dimisisse of the text into nuntios in 
 omnes partes dimiserunt. But if he momentarily forgets 
 his Latin equivalent for " meanwhile," as he may easily 
 do, or the Latin equivalent for " the latter," as the aver- 
 age pupil is likely to do, his only recourse is to omit 
 this part of the Latin sentence, for books of this type 
 give no English-Latin vocabulary to supply aid at such 
 junctures. The pupil, therefore, is hkely to find himself 
 in the awkward predicament of neither knowing nor 
 being able to learn what he wants to know and is will- 
 ing to devote pains to discovering. Such a lacuna in 
 the present instance is not particularly serious, but at 
 times it may easily prove so ; for often the form of other 
 parts of the sentence may depend upon these missing 
 elements. 
 
 The English goes on : " announcing that a bridge 
 was being built over the Rhine by Caesar." A cross- 
 reference informs the pupil that no word for " announc- 
 ing " is necessary in the Latin ; " that a bridge was 
 being built," however, is furnished directly by the origi- 
 inal : pontem fieri. But how many pupils will without 
 assistance correctly render " ever the Rhine " ? The 
 Latin idiom is regularly in Rheno, in Daniivio, etc. 
 
 The passage ends : " and urging the women and 
 children to flee to the woods," which, by referring to 
 the Cffisar passage, the pupil will without difficulty 
 (unless he has forgotten fugio or confounded it with 
 ftigd) render : uti liberi et iixores in silvas fugerent. 
 
 Doubtless in this same book could be found other 
 exercises where the resemblance between the original 
 Latin to which the pupil is referred and the English 
 given for translation into Latin is even closer than in 
 
1 66 LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 the exercise above examined. Certainly in some books 
 of this type the resemblance amounts practically to 
 identity. Thus, from another book, I take at random 
 the following, in which I have indicated clause by 
 clause the original Latin (Caesar, B. G. iv. 21) on which 
 the exercise is based, and which by a few extremely 
 slight changes on the pupil's part is transformed into 
 the required Latin : " Caius Volusenus was sent for- 
 ward with a galley {Gaium Volusenum cum navi longa 
 praemittii), and was commanded to investigate all things 
 and to return as soon as possible (^Huic mandat, ut, ex- 
 ploratis omnibus rebus, ad se quam primum revertatur). 
 He returned in five days, and announced that he had 
 not dared to disembark and intrust himself to barbarians 
 Qquinto die revertitur . . . renuntiat . . . navi egredi 
 ac se barbaris committere non auderei). Meanwhile, 
 because ambassadors had come from many parts of 
 Britain (Jnterim . . . a compluribus insulae civitatibus 
 ad cum legati veniuni) and had promised to submit to 
 the authority of the Roman people (^qui polliceantur . . . 
 imperio populi Romani obtemperare^, Commius, King of 
 the Atrebates, was sent to the island with them (^cum 
 eis ima Commium . . . regem, . . . mittif) to urge the 
 Britons to continue in that purpose (Jiortatus, ut in ea 
 sententia permanerenf) ." 
 
 Yet in the passage which was first considered, the re- 
 semblance is so close that any pupil of average ability 
 ought to be able without great effort to do all that prac- 
 tically any pupil may with confidence be expected to do. 
 If we eliminate a few special difficulties likely to baffle 
 most pupils, and for whose solution no adequate resources 
 are accessible, the few changes necessary to adapt the 
 phrases and sentences of the original Caesar passage to 
 a Latin equivalent of the English exercise are exceed- 
 ingly easy to make. But an exercise so simple as this, 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 1 67 
 
 it seems to me, cannot be tonic and strengthening, 
 simply because it demands practically no effort on the 
 pupil's part. Such exercises do not call for reflection, 
 for judgment, or for memory; they simply involve 
 that weakest of all intellectual processes, — mechanical 
 imitation. 
 
 The absence of vocabularies in books of the new 
 type also seems to me a serious defect. Most words 
 needed in any exercise are, to be sure, sup- vocabu- 
 plied in the Latin passage on which the Eng- '*'*^- 
 lish exercise is based ; but not all. Where the pupil 
 is unable to discover the needed word in the original 
 Latin and cannot recall it by memory, he must either 
 resort to the pernicious expedient of hazarding a guess 
 or else remain in ignorance. The special vocabularies, 
 too, of the old-fashioned books seem to me a wise fea- 
 ture. These special lesson-vocabularies are given to 
 be learned. Personally I believe it not merely legitimate 
 but important for the pupil in his composition work to 
 commit regularly to memory a certain number of the 
 more common words of the Latin language. A re- 
 luctance to do this seems to me to be dictated by the 
 same unwise attitude toward the exercise of the mem- 
 ory to which I have above referred (p. 55). 
 
 Thus far I have been criticising what seems to me 
 the defects of the new-fashioned way of teaching Latin 
 composition. It remains to examine the rea- Reasons 
 sons which are advanced in its favour. These ^^t^ i" 
 are best set forth by Mr. Collar in the Preface the Hewer 
 to his Practical Latin Composition, Boston, ^'"'• 
 1887. Mr. Collar owes the suggestion of his method to 
 certain passages in Ascham's Scholemaster, in which 
 Ascham's own method is set forth. The . ^ 
 
 ASCUAin* 
 
 method is this : The pupil is to take a passage 
 
 of some Latin author, and master it in detail with the 
 
1 68 LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 teacher's help and guidance. Then he is to make a care- 
 ful English translation of the same. After at least an 
 hour's pause, he is to re-translate into Latin this English 
 version. Ascham incorrectly speaks of this method 
 of study as suggested by Cicero, De Oratore, i. But 
 Cicero goes no further in that work than to speak with 
 approval of the practice of careful written translation 
 from a foreign language into one's vernacular. The 
 question of writing in a foreign language is not even 
 remotely suggested. For his own method, Ascham 
 says that he knows by good experience that with ease 
 and pleasure and in a short time it " workes a true choice 
 and placing of words, a right ordering of sentences, an 
 easie understanding of the tonge, a readiness to speak, 
 a facilitie to write, a true judgment, both of his owne 
 and other men's doinges, what tonge so ever he doth 
 use." 
 
 I shall make, no criticisms upon Ascham's method ; 
 I shall not even pause to urge that the extravagant 
 claims made for it by its author may properly excite 
 in us a good degree of distrust. But Mr. Collar's 
 method involves neither of Ascham's fundamental pro- 
 cesses ; it does not include a careful translation by the 
 
 „ ^ „ ■ pupil into English to start with ; it does not 
 Mr. Collar's r r t. ' 
 
 Method not include the effort of re-translating this Eng- 
 Ascham's. jj^j^^ ^^^^^ ^^ interval, into Latin. It is an 
 
 entirely different method, in which the pupil, with the 
 text before him, engages in a feeble imitation of the 
 Latin phrases which he finds in the original passage. 
 As regards Mr. Collar's own method, not all will be 
 able to assent to his fundamental proposition, which is 
 Mr Collar's *^'^ ■ Latin writing must go hand in hand with 
 First As- Latin reading. Nor does Mr. Collar himself 
 sumption. advance any reasons for this position. He 
 assumes it as though a self-evident proposition. The 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 169 
 
 traditional view is that Latin composition should go 
 hand in hand with Latin Grammar. In other words, 
 Mr. Collar thinks that Latin composition is primarily 
 helpful as illuminating the content of what is read ; others 
 regard it as of value in improving and increasing the 
 pupil's mastery of the linguistic form of what is read, 
 — the technique of the language. This last statement 
 reduces the question at issue to its very lowest terms, 
 I believe. Beyond it we can hardly go. Is Latin com- 
 position primarily of value as a direct aid to reading in 
 the sense which Mr. Collar maintains, and is it, as he 
 asserts, an abandonment of common sense to give a 
 boy sentences to write about Balbus when he is reading 
 about Themistocles and Miltiades? As above stated, Mr. 
 Collar advances no reasons for his attitude, and as none 
 occur to me, I shall not attempt a refutation of his the- 
 sis. I think, however, that it needs to be supported by 
 cogent arguments if it is to meet with acceptance as a 
 valid truth. Mr. Collar, however, does advance certain 
 objections to the old way. For one thing he asserts 
 that it " is ' a very perfite waie ' of muddling the learner, 
 because it breaks all the threads of association. He 
 [the pupil] is still supposed to be studying Latin, but 
 the subject matter of his study and his mental processes 
 have no relation to those from which he has been di- 
 verted.' Certain principles are enunciated, certain rules 
 are laid down, certain words are given, and the problem 
 is to form sentences of these words in accordance with 
 the rules." But how all this muddles the learner, I fail 
 to see in theory, just as I have never been able to ob- 
 serve it in experience. Mr. Collar declares " it effectu- 
 ally breaks all the threads of association." This is but 
 a re-statement in other terms of his fundamental position, 
 namely, that Latin composition ought always to go 
 hand in hand with reading (in the sense that it ought to 
 
I70 LATIN COMPOS/TION 
 
 deal with the same subject matter). As above noted, 
 this position needs support before we can accept it as 
 sound. Till then we may question the propriety and 
 necessity of the existence of any such intimate associa- 
 tion between the subject matter of the author read and 
 the subject matter of the exercises in Latin composition ; 
 and, unless this association is shown to be something 
 necessary and organic, we may with perfect justice deny 
 that there is any breaking of threads of association; 
 there may be failure to bring certain threads into asso- 
 ciation; but if they do not naturally and necessarily 
 belong together, then there has been no act of severing. 
 
 From the point of view of those who believe that 
 Latin composition is of value primarily as the hand- 
 maiden of Latin grammar, there certainly is in the old 
 method of teaching Latin composition no breaking of 
 any threads of connection that ought to remain associ- 
 ated. On the other hand, the very associations are 
 preserved which ought to be preserved. The study of 
 Latin composition deepens and strengthens the pupil's 
 knowledge of syntax and forms. If a minute, accurate, 
 broad, and certain knowledge of Latin grammar is of 
 the first importance for the Latin pupil of the second- 
 ary school, then anything that promotes the attainment 
 of this must be regarded as rational and legitimate. If 
 Latin composition promotes this end, its natural and 
 organic associations would seem to be with grammar 
 rather than directly with the content of the authors 
 read in the schools. 
 
 Mr. Collar's position seems to me singularly analogous 
 to the hypothetical attitude of a teacher of music who 
 An Analogy should urge that scales, arpeggios, octaves, 
 from Music, trills, thirds, sixths, etc., should be studied 
 only in connection with regular musical compositions, 
 and should protest against breaking the threads of 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 1 71 
 
 musical association by practising the foregoing ele- 
 ments of musical technique in isolation. The tech- 
 nique of a language is of no less importance than the 
 technique of the fine arts. To me it seems analogous 
 in many ways. Minute knowledge of the structure, 
 particularly the syntactical and stylistic structure, of a 
 language is as indispensable an instrument for the 
 proper interpretation of its hterary monuments, as is 
 a thorough musical technique for the rendering of a 
 sonata. Neither of these, however, can be attained 
 without laborious and sustained attention to the ele- 
 ments which constitute them. Mr. Collar calls the pro- 
 cess by which this technical familiarity is acquired in 
 the traditional way of studying Latin composition " me- 
 chanical " ; and the product he calls " artificial." Both 
 these allegations are to a certain extent just, but they 
 are, I believe, far from possessing the significance which 
 he would attach to them. The traditional method of 
 teaching Latin composition is mechanical in xheXra- 
 
 iust the same way that all Latin grammar is aitionai 
 
 ... X - 1 1-11 • Method not 
 
 mechanical. It mvolves repeated illustration unduiy Me- 
 
 of principles to the end that they may become <*s^'=^- 
 very familiar, — so familiar as to be always subcon- 
 sciously present to the pupil's mind. Only in this way 
 can the whole energy of the pupil be devoted to the 
 most effective interpretation of what is read, just as 
 in rendering a musical composition the technique of 
 the instrument must be so thoroughly mastered by 
 the performer that all his energy may be devoted to the 
 musical interpretation. But to me this mechanical 
 drill seems indispensable, and I have deplored with 
 increasing anxiety its partial disappearance in our 
 schools in recent years. 
 
 So the product of the traditional method of teaching 
 Latin composition is also, as Mr. Collar urges, to a cer- 
 
1/2 LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 tain extent artificial. But the same is true of many of 
 the fundamental elements of every liberal education. For 
 the average student I can conceive nothing 
 Limitations more artificial than the study of geometry, 
 of AU trigonometry, analytics, and differential cal- 
 
 culus. In the sense that these mathematical 
 branches deal not with what is vital and of permanent 
 intellectual worth to the student, they are artificial. 
 Yet I assume that their value is conceded by most 
 students of education. Despite their artificiality they 
 possess proved educative efficiency. So I think it is 
 with the traditional mode of teaching Latin composition. 
 It is in a sense artificial, but is an indispensable dis- 
 ciplinary element of the Latin course. 
 
 I am entirely at one, therefore, with Mr. Collar in his 
 contention that Latin composition is not an end in 
 itself; I am at one with him also in thinking 
 that its ulterior purpose is to aid the pupil 
 in reading and understanding Latin authors. I cannot 
 agree with him, however, that the traditional method 
 fails to do this, and my dissent is based primarily upon 
 extended experience. Undoubtedly the results of the 
 traditional method are not as large as the teacher would 
 desire ; but we must not forget the limitations of teach- 
 ing. Few of us ever get more than distant glimpses of 
 our ideals. If we only succeed in remaining faithful to 
 them in our hearts, we have cause for satisfaction. But 
 I have not, as a college teacher, annually meeting a 
 hundred or more new freshmen, been able to discern 
 that those trained under the new method have begun 
 to acquire the ability to write even simple detached 
 sentences which I have often seen realized under the 
 traditional method. 
 
 Mr. Collar's method also lays great stress upon the 
 principle of continuity, i. e. of having the pupil write 
 
LATIN COMPOSITION 1/3 
 
 continuous passages instead of detached sentences. The 
 experience of years with college freshmen has convinced 
 me (I might almost say, has proved to me) possibility 
 that this attempt to teach pupils to write of Learning 
 
 ,. ^ , r , .to Write 
 
 continuous discourse before they can write continuons 
 detached sentences is a prodigious mistake. I'is™"^^- 
 It is hke teaching pupils to play a sonata before they 
 can play a musical phrase. The attempt is too ambi- 
 tious, and is, I beheve, doomed to failure. Such pupils 
 not only do not learn (in the schools) to wr^te continu- 
 ous discourse ; they do not even learn to write detached 
 sentences ; and their failure, I think, should not excite 
 surprise. It is true, as often urged, that no one ever 
 learns to write Latin by writing detached sentences. 
 But, on the other hand, no one ever learns to write 
 Latin who has not learned to write detached 
 sentences. The pupil who has learned to must Pre- 
 
 write simple isolated sentences involving the ?,'^*^f^ 
 ^ ^ Btfflcnlt. 
 
 fundamental logical relations expressed in 
 Latin, has secured a solid basis — and an indispensable 
 basis — for more ambitious composition in the Latin lan- 
 guage. Possessing the art of expressing in phrase and 
 sentence the various elements of Latin thought, he may 
 then proceed to join these phrases and sentences in 
 continuous paragraphs, studying the best methods of 
 bringing successive sentences and successive paragraphs 
 into organic relation. But this is a function of college 
 teaching. I should rejoice to see the day when gradu- 
 ates of our secondary schools brought to college such 
 a capacity to write simple detached sentences as would 
 make it possible to avoid the necessity of spending part 
 of the freshman year in acquiring this very power. 
 
 In the last few years an undoubted reaction in favour 
 of the traditional method has manifested itself This 
 
174 LATIN COMPOSITION 
 
 reaction is attested not so much by the welcome ac- 
 corded to new books prepared on the traditional plan, 
 A Reaction as by the circumstance that books of the new- 
 BoticeaMe. fashioned sort are in their revised editions 
 so remodelled as to include systematic drill in syntax. 
 This is conspicuously true of Moulton and Collar's 
 Preparatory Latin Composition, which, though in its 
 first edition (1897) constructed on the strict hues of 
 Mr. Collar's earlier work above considered, has recently 
 (1899) been enlarged by the addition of " Part ii. Sys- 
 tematic Drill in Syntax. 75 pp." Practically the same 
 is true of Daniell's Latin Composition in its revised edi- 
 tion. Whether these tendencies point to an ultimate 
 return to the traditional method of teaching Latin com- 
 position, the future alone can determine. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LATIN PKOSODY 
 
 The difficulties of reading Latin poetry are suffi- 
 ciently familiar. Extremely few pupils, and not many 
 teachers, ever learn to read Latin verse with that keen 
 consciousness of its artistic form which ought to attend 
 the reading of poetry. The main causes of the trouble 
 are two : 
 
 a. A failure to apprehend the truly quantitative char- 
 acter of Latin poetry : ..^ ^ ^ 
 
 ^ -^ ' Two Fnnda- 
 
 b. An maccurate pronunciation of the mental 
 Latin. DUflcnities. 
 
 Let us consider just what is meant when we say that 
 Latin poetry is quantitative. We shall best understand 
 the significance of this term if we pause a 
 moment to consider the nature of English ^^* ^y 
 poetry and the general relation of poetry to Quantitative 
 the spoken language. Poetry. 
 
 English poetry is based on accent, i. e. on a regular 
 succession of accented and unaccented syllables, grouped 
 by twos or threes. 
 
 The versification of 
 
 This is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, 
 
 depends entirely upon this artistic alternation of stressed 
 and unstressed syllables, and the same is true of all 
 ordinary English verse. This basis of English poetry, 
 moreover, is a result of the very nature of the English 
 
I ^6 LA TIN PROSOD Y 
 
 language. Like all languages of the Teutonic group, 
 our English speech is strongly stressed ; we pronounce 
 our words with an energy typical of the race. 
 
 Latin verse, on the other hand, like Greek, was based 
 on quantity. Recent discussion, it is true, has tended to 
 show that the native Latin verse, as exemplified by the 
 Saturnian measure, was governed by stress; but how- 
 ever that may have been, it is certain that, from the 
 time Greek metres began to be introduced at Rome, 
 — from the time of Ennius, ; — Latin verse was quantita- 
 tive like Greek ; a line of Latin poetry consisted of 
 an orderly and harmonious arrangement of long and 
 short syllables, i. e. of syllables which it took a 
 long or short time to pronounce. This basis of Latin 
 poetry again, as in the case of English poetry, is 
 strictly in conformity with the character of the spoken 
 language. For Latin apparently, in the classical period, 
 was not a strongly stressed language. Had it been, 
 it is quite inconceivable that the long environing vow- 
 els should not have been shortened in such words as 
 evitabatur and scores of others like it in which the Latin 
 language abounds. Cf., e. g., a Latin inevitabile with 
 English inevitable. Strong stress has a tendency to 
 reduce every long pre-tonic and post-tonic syllable to 
 a short one. In other words, strong stress is absolutely 
 inconsistent with the quantitative phenomena of the 
 Latin language. 
 
 Now it is precisely this slightly stressed character of 
 
 the Latin language that explains to us the character 
 
 of Latin poetry. Stress was so weak as to 
 
 WeaMy constitute an inconspicuous feature of the 
 
 stressed spoken word. Quantity, on the other hand, 
 
 anguage. ^^^ prominent in the spoken word. Hence 
 quantity and not stress naturally came to be the basis 
 of verse. 
 
LATIN PROSODY 1 77 
 
 Theoretically, now, this quantitative Latin poetry may 
 seem sufficiently simple, were it not for the so-called ictus, 
 a feature to which our traditional prosody uni- 
 formly gives a prominent place. What was 
 this ictus? It is usually defined as stress accent. With a 
 single exception to be noted below, it is invariably thus 
 defined, so far as I am aware. Yet I question whether 
 there is a particle of legitimate evidence, internal or ex- 
 ternal, in support of this view. The conception of ictus 
 as stress accent seems to me to have its foundation solely 
 in the practical assumption that Latin poetry was, like 
 English and German poetry, really accentual. I say 
 ' practical assumption.' It would, of course, be absurd 
 to maintain for a moment that theoretically the quanti- 
 tative character of Latin verse has ever been denied. 
 Yet so long as Latin is pronounced with absolute dis- 
 regard of vowel quantity, as it necessarily is by the 
 so-called EngHsh method of pronunciation, and as it 
 habitually is in Germany to my certain knowledge, or 
 with disregard of syllabic quantity, as it usually is even 
 where the Roman pronunciation is nominally followed, 
 so long is it inevitable that any theoretical recogni- 
 tion of the truly quantitative character of Latin verse 
 should be totally clouded by the impulse toward secur- 
 ing a rhythmical effect by means of stress. By a pro- 
 nunciation which yields gero, ingenium, and thousands 
 more of the same sort, on the one hand, and filitts, vis, 
 etc., on the other, a quantitative verse is as impossible as 
 would be an accentual verse in English, were we to mis- 
 place the regular word-accent. It is no exaggeration to 
 say that were we to accent Longfellow's line as follows : 
 
 This fs the forest primeval, the murmuring pines, 
 
 the result would be no whit worse than is inevitably 
 necessary by any system of Latin pronunciation which 
 
178 LATIN PROSODY 
 
 fails scrupulously to observe the quantity of every vowel 
 and of every syllable. A neglect of quantity was inevi- 
 table under the English pronunciation of Latin ; it is 
 inevitable under the pronunciation of Latin current in 
 Germany. Neglect of quantity leaves nothing except 
 accent as a basis for a metrical effect, and naturally 
 leads to an accentual reading of Latin verse, which 
 brings with it the conception of ictus as a stressed sylla- 
 ble. Yet this conception seems to me demonstrably 
 false, for the following reasons : 
 
 I. So far as we know, no language is ever forced to 
 an artificial pronunciation when adapted to the service 
 Reasons for of poetry. It is irrational to conceive any 
 Rejecting tie guch adaptation. The poet simply takes the 
 Theory of choicer words of familiar speech and employs 
 'Ictus.' them in their ordinary equivalence with their 
 
 regular pronunciation. He must do so. For his appeal is 
 to the many, not to a select handful who may have been 
 initiated into the secret trick of his versification ; hence 
 he must use words in the pronunciation familiar to his 
 auditors or readers. Otherwise he can make no appeal. 
 His art consists, on the mechanical side at least, in ar- 
 ranging words in such a way that the poetic form is 
 obvious to the meanest observer who knows the words 
 by ear or eye. Can any poetry be cited in any lan- 
 guage of which this is not true? Is it then not absurd 
 to assume that in Latin poetic form consisted in employ- 
 ing words with gratuitous stress accents unknown in the 
 ordinary speech ? Can we conceive of an atavis, a regi- 
 bus, a Trojai, a cano, or a thousand other equally gro- 
 tesque hermaphrodites that we are compelled to father 
 by this theory? And is it credible that poetry so in- 
 conceivably artificial should have been tolerated, not to 
 say admired, by such sober-minded persons as the 
 Romans ? 
 
LATIN PROSODY 1 79 
 
 2. The view that ictus was stress is to be rejected 
 because it involves the assumption of a second basis for 
 Latin verse. We have already noted that Latin verse is 
 quantitative, i. e. a dactyl is a long time followed by two 
 short times. But if ictus is stress, then a dactyl is a 
 stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. 
 We should thus get two principles as the basis of Latin 
 verse, quantity and accent {i. e. stress), and it seems to 
 me impossible that there should uniformly and regularly 
 have been two principles at the basis of Latin verse or 
 any other. 
 
 3. It is nowhere hinted or implied in the ancient 
 writers that ictus was stress. To judge from the promi- 
 nence assigned to ictus in our grammars and other 
 works on prosody, one might expect to find that the word 
 was widely current as a technical term among the an- 
 cients. Such, however, is not the case. Among all the 
 systematic discussions of prosody found in the Latin 
 grammarians, I have been able to discover no definition 
 of the term, — in fact, no mention of it as a technical 
 term of prosody. The word does occur a few times in 
 the classical period, but so rarely and in such context 
 that there is no justification for regarding it as a terminus 
 technicus. Thus we find it in the familiar passage of 
 Horace, ad Pisones, 253 : 
 
 unde etiam trimetris accrescere jussit 
 Nomen iambeis, cum senos redderet ictus 
 Primus ad extremum similis sibi. 
 
 More frequently we find ictus in this signification 
 combined with digits, pollex, or pes. Thus Horace, 
 Carm. IV 6, 36 pollicis ictum ; Quint. Inst. Or. IX 4, 
 51 pedum et digitorum ictu intervalla signant; Pliny, 
 N. H. II 95, 96, 209 ad ictum modulantium pedum. 
 From these and similar instances (the total number, 
 however, is very small), the natural inference is that 
 
l80 LATIN PROSODY 
 
 ictus as a metrical term primarily designated taps of the 
 feet or fingers, and was then transferred to denote the 
 rhythmical beats of verse. Certainly there is no evi- 
 dence either from the etymology of the word or from its 
 use in any citable case to indicate that it designated 
 vocal stress. 
 
 Scarcely more support of the stress theory can be de- 
 rived from the use of the words arsis and thesis as em- 
 ployed in the systematic treatises on Latin prosody 
 prepared by the ancient grammarians. These writers 
 give us abundant testimony, but yet an examination 
 of their utterances fails to reveal any definite coherent 
 doctrine. The witnesses not only contradict each other ; 
 they even contradict themselves. 
 
 I have already given three reasons why it seems to 
 me erroneous to regard ictus as stress: i. Because it 
 involves the importation of a stupendous artificiality 
 into the reading of verse. 2. Because it involves a 
 dual basis for versification, — stress as well as quantity. 
 
 3. Because the view finds no support in any ancient 
 testimony. To these three reasons I wish to add as 
 
 4. There are excellent grounds for believing that ictus 
 was something else than stress. If Latin poetry was 
 quantitative, as its internal structure and all external evi- 
 dence seem to show, then a dactyl was a long time fol- 
 lowed by two short times, and a trochee a long time 
 followed by one short time, absolutely without any other 
 parasitic accretion. When, now, we come to use dactyls 
 by the line, one part of every foot will inevitably be felt 
 as prominent, namely, the long syllable. The relative 
 amount of time given the long syllable of every dactyl 
 naturally brings that long syllable into consciousness, 
 and especially must it have done so to the minds of the 
 Romans, whose nice quantitative sense is proved by the 
 very fact that they made quantity the basis of their 
 
LATIN PROSODY l8l 
 
 versification. Yet the long of the dactyl has no stress. 
 It is natural for us to stress it, us whose only concep- 
 tion of verse is accented verse. But in so 
 doing I believe we are simply transferring ^ ^^^ q^. 
 to Latin verse our own inherited verse-sense, titative 
 I define ictus, therefore, not as stress, nor 
 as accent, but simply as the quantitative prominence in- 
 herent in a long syllable. This definition applies prima- 
 rily only to the four fundamental feet — the dactyl, the 
 anapaest, the trochee, and the iambus. It does not 
 apply to the spondee, for example, when substituted for 
 the dactyl in dactylic verse. In such cases ^h^ first long 
 of the spondee is felt as the quantitatively prominent 
 thing in the foot, even though the second syllable of the 
 spondee is also long. In dactylic verse, the dactylic 
 character and feehng so dominate the line that any 
 spondee naturally takes on a dactylic character and is 
 felt to be quantitatively prominent in its first syllable, 
 just as in the case of the dactyl itself So in iambic 
 measures, where the tribrach or dactyl is substituted 
 for the iambus, the quantitative prominence inherent in 
 the long syllable of the iambus is felt as transferred to 
 the two final shorts of the tribrach or the dactyl. 
 
 This conception of thesis or ictus receives no little 
 support from the positive testimonies of the Roman 
 grammarians. These writers in their defini- support for 
 tions of arsis and thesis repeatedly call atten- *^= '^i-i-vi. 
 tion in unambiguous phrase to the essentially quantitative 
 character of these concepts. In this, their agreement is 
 conspicuous. 
 
 To those who may cherish a scepticism as to the 
 tangible reality of ' quantitative prominence,' .^^ j^ 
 I would only say that that phrase need ap- Consider- 
 pear shadowy to no one who will actually read ^*'*'"'- 
 one thousand lines of Latin aloud with absolute fidelity 
 
1 82 LATIN PROSODY 
 
 to vocalic and syllabic quantity. My own revolt against 
 the traditional view of ictus has been purely and solely 
 empirical. It was simply because by faithful practice in 
 accurate reading my ear quickly grew sensitive to quan- 
 titative differences, that I was forced to believe that, as 
 quantity was the basis of Latin verse, so ictus was only 
 quantitative prominence. This conclusion, I say, was 
 first forced upon me empirically, and the theoretical 
 formulation was entirely subsequent to, and solely the 
 result of, my actual oral experience in reading Latin. 
 No one, in my judgment, can approach this subject in 
 a candid spirit who has not first taken the pains to 
 acquire the habit of exact pronunciation of Latin vowels 
 and syllables. Even in this country, where we have 
 nominally adopted the quantitative pronunciation of 
 Latin, we have still much to learn in this matter. Our 
 shortcomings are so pronounced, and bear so directly 
 upon the theoretical aspect of the question at issue, that 
 I shall here venture to recapitulate some of them. 
 
 First, we habitually neglect vowel quantity. One 
 cause of this is the vehement stress which (in accord- 
 ance with our English-speaking instinct) we regularly 
 Points In put upon the accented syllable. The word 
 
 wUch our evltdbatur, for example, contains four succes- 
 Frononclatlon . , . . 
 
 of Latin is sive long vowels. Yet m nmety-nme cases 
 Defective. ^^^ ^f ^ hundred, the penultimate syllable is 
 so strongly stressed that the first three vowels are pro- 
 nounced short. In Latin poetry the result of such 
 pronunciation is to wreck the quantitative character 
 of the verse as effectively as if in English we were to 
 misplace the accents on successive syllables. How 
 much poetic form would appear in Milton's opening 
 line of Paradise Lost, were we to pronounce ' (Jf man's 
 first dis6bedfence,' for instance? Besides destroying 
 vowel quantity as a result of over-stressing the accented 
 
LATIN PROSODY 183 
 
 syllable, we habitually neglect it in hundreds of other 
 instances where there is no such disturbing factor. By 
 some strange fatality the -is of the genitive singular is 
 commonly pronounced -Is, while the -Is of the ablative 
 plural as regularly is heard as -is; while the number of 
 such pronunciations as pater, ager, nisi, quod, qulbus, in- 
 genium is simply legion. No one who pronounces Latin 
 in that way can expect to feel the quantitative charac- 
 ter of a Latin verse, and is in no proper frame of mind 
 to give the quantitative theory dispassionate considera- 
 tion; for one or two false quantities destroy as com- 
 pletely the quantitative character of a verse of Latin 
 poetry as would one or two misplaced accents any 
 English verse. 
 
 Even more serious than our neglect of vowel quantity 
 is our neglect of syllabic quantity. The shipwreck re- 
 sulting from neglect of vowel quantity occurs neglect of 
 chiefly in open syllables, i. e. in syllables whose syllable 
 vowel is followed by a single consonant, which ''°»"*^*y- 
 always belongs to the following vowel, thus leaving the 
 preceding syllable open. In such syllables the quan- 
 tity of the vowel is always identical with the quantity of 
 the syllable, so that a false vowel quantity involves the 
 quantity of the syllable as well. In closed syllables, on 
 the other hand (/. e. syllables ending in a consonant), 
 an error in vowel quantity does not affect the quantity 
 of the syllable. I may pronounce vendo or vendo. In 
 either case the syllable will be long. Hence in closed 
 syllables an error in vowel quantity does not destroy 
 the quantity of the syllable, and so does not interrupt 
 the quantitative character of a Latin verse. But the 
 syllable must be actually closed in pronunciation ; else 
 wJiere the vowel is short, the syllable will be left open, 
 and will be metrically short, destroying the verse. It 
 is precisely here that we err so frequently and so fatally 
 
1 84 LATIN PROSODY 
 
 in our reading of Latin verse. We do not close the 
 syllables that ought to be closed and were closed by 
 the Romans. The commonest class of words where 
 we commit this error are those containing a geminated 
 consonant — words of the type of ges-serunt, ac-cipio, 
 at-tigerat, ter-rarum, ap-parabat, an-norum, ad-diderat, 
 flam-marum, excel-lentia, ag-gerimus. These words we 
 habitually pronounce in prose and verse alike, as ge- 
 serunt, a-cipio, a-tigerat, te-rarum, a-parabat, a-norum, 
 a.-didit,fld-meus, exce-lentia, a-gerimus. Words of this 
 type are extremely frequent in Latin. I have counted 
 forty-five in the first hundred lines of Virgil's ^neid, 
 i. e. the pronunciation described destroys the quanti- 
 tative character of the Latin verse at forty-five distinct 
 points, often twice in the same verse. 
 
 Nor is this all. In other combinations in the interior 
 of words we are often guilty of quite as serious errors. 
 In English, besides muta cum liquida, there are many 
 other consonant combinations with which in stressed 
 syllables we show a regular tendency to begin the syl- 
 lable. This is especially true of the combinations sp, 
 sc(k), st, squ; also scl, scr, str. This tendency of our 
 vernacular speech naturally affects our pronunciation 
 of Latin words in which these combinations occur. 
 The s of such combinations properly belongs with the 
 preceding vowel, in order that the preceding syllable 
 may be closed and so made phonetically long ; yet we 
 frequently (almost invariably, according to my observa- 
 tion) join the s with the consonants of the tonic syllable. 
 I refer to such pronunciations as d-sp^r(r)ima, i-stius, 
 tempe-stdtibus, corU-scdbat , mi-sctierat, magi-strorum, 
 d-sMpias, d-scripsit, qut-squiliae. My own students 
 often exhibit a tendency to combine even ct, pt, ps with a 
 following accented vowel, and produce short syllables 
 in such words as volU-ptdte, d-spe-ctorum, i-pslus. Where 
 
LATIN PROSODY 185 
 
 the accent rests on the vowel immediately preceding 
 these combinations, the liability to error is very slight. 
 
 There are yet other cases in which error is frequent, 
 if not habitual. Unstressed syllables whose vowel is 
 followed by r+ any consonant are particularly liable 
 to be made phonetically short in those portions of the 
 country where the r is neglected. This is especially 
 true in the eastern part of the United States, where 
 pd(y)-tdrum, te(r)-minorum, etc., represent the prevail- 
 ing utterance. The combination of m or n also with a 
 following explosive in unstressed syllables frequently is 
 so treated as to shorten syllables phonetically long. The 
 process by which this is accomplished is not yet clear 
 to me. Observation, however, has taught me that in 
 such words as intperator, intendo the first syllable is fre- 
 quently made short ; whether by omission of the nasal, 
 by pronouncing a short nasalized vowel, or by a short 
 nasalis sonans («), I do not undertake to say. The 
 fact, I believe, is beyond question. A careful and dis- 
 tinct enunciation of the nasal, however, will obviate all 
 difficulty in cases of this sort. 
 
 There is only one other class of cases to which I shall 
 call attention, namely, the unconscious liaison of final s 
 after a short vowel with the initial consonant of the 
 following word. Where the following word begins with 
 s, p, c, t, V, m, n, f, etc., and where the connection of 
 sense is close, this liaison is in my experience frequent. 
 It is not surprising that it should be, for we habitually 
 join a final s of an unstressed syllable in our own 
 speech with a following s, c, t. Examples in Latin are : 
 urbi sporta, capi scanem, urbi svici. A case that puz- 
 zled me for a time was Juv. Ill 53 carus erit Verri, as 
 read by a student. The fourth syllable sounded short 
 to my ear, and it was only after repeated readings that 
 I discovered that the reader was really dividing : carus 
 
1 86 LATIN PROSODY 
 
 eri-tVerri. I do not say that this liaison is invariable. 
 It is certainly frequent, and, where it occurs, must viti- 
 ate the quantitative efifect of the verse. 
 
 These common errors in reading Latin must be 
 clearly understood, if they are to be remedied. It is 
 by no means an impossible matter to acquire an exact 
 quantitative pronunciation. It takes time and pains 
 and considerable oral practice. I do not believe that 
 it requires a particularly sensitive ear. By practice 
 in rigidly exact reading, the quantitative sense is not 
 slow in coming; but v/ithout that exactness it cannot 
 come and cannot be expected to come. He who has 
 once developed the quantitative sense will, I am con- 
 fident, feel no need of any artificial stress. 
 
 In this connection the words of Madvig are well 
 worth pondering (Latin Grammar, § 498, N.) : " We 
 Madvig's should also guard against the opinion which 
 view. jg generally current; namely, that the an- 
 cients accentuated the long syllable (in the arsis) and 
 distinguished in this way the movement of the verse 
 (by a so-called verse-accent, ictus metricus), and conse- 
 quently often accentuated the words in verse quite 
 otherwise than in prose {e g. Arma virumque can6 
 Troja6 qui primus ab oris ; ftaliam fat6 profugus Lavi- 
 naque venit), which is impossible ; for the verse depends 
 on a certain prescribed order and form of movement 
 being distinguishable, when the words are correctly pro- 
 nounced. In our own verses we do not accentuate the 
 syllables/^/- the sake of the verse, but the syllables which 
 are perceptibly distinguished by the accentuation in 
 prose form, verse by being arranged to succeed each 
 other in this way. In Latin and Greek (where even in 
 prose pronunciation the accent was quite subordinate, 
 and is never named in speaking of rhetorical euphony, 
 while on the other hand the difference of quantity was 
 
LATIN PROSODY 1 87 
 
 distinctly and strongly marked), the verse was audibly 
 distinguished by this very alternation of the long and 
 short syllables." So far my assent with Madvig is com- 
 plete. He goes on : " But as it is not possible for us, 
 either in prose or in verse, to pronounce the words 
 according to the quantity in such a way as the ancients 
 did, we cannot recite their poetry correctly, but are 
 forced in the delivery to give a certain stress of voice to 
 the arsis, and thus make their verses somewhat resemble 
 ours. It should, however, be understood, that it was 
 different with the ancients themselves (until the last 
 century of their history, when the pronunciation itself 
 underwent modifications)." These words of Madvig 
 were written in 1847 — over half a century ago. At 
 that time it is not strange that he should have denied 
 the possibility of our reading Latin verse quantitatively 
 with substantial accuracy. But before the end of his 
 life, it is likely that Madvig relinquished this part of his 
 earlier opinion. 
 
 As regards word-accent in the reading of Latin verse, 
 I believe that it retained its full value ; for as I have 
 maintained that in poetry words are used word- 
 with their ordinary prose values, and are Accent, 
 pronounced without addition of foreign elements, so I 
 believe that they were pronounced without subtraction 
 of any of their elements. But we have already seen 
 that the Latin accent was slight. It was precisely that 
 fact which led the Romans of the classical period to 
 make quantity the basis of their verse. Assuming, 
 now, that the word-accent was very slight, what wonder 
 that, with quantity predominant in the verse and in the 
 Roman consciousness, such slight word-accent as existed 
 was felt as no intrusion? An analogous situation re- 
 veals itself in our English verse. Our verse is primarily 
 accentual, and yet each syllable has its quantity, and 
 
1 88 LA TIN PROSOD Y 
 
 shorts and longs mingle harmlessly with accented and 
 unaccented syllables. Why should not the reverse have 
 occurred in Latin just as simply and just as naturally? 
 
 To sum up, then : Latin poetry is to be read exactly 
 like Latin prose. Latin was primarily a quantitative 
 Summary language in the classical period and is to be 
 read quantitatively. The Latin word-accent 
 was relatively slight as compared with that of our 
 strongly stressed English speech, and is therefore to 
 be carefully subordinated to quantity both in prose and 
 poetry. Ictus was not a metrical term current among 
 the Romans, nor was there anything corresponding to 
 it in the quantitative poetry of the Greeks. The term is 
 purely modern. We first imported the conception of 
 stress from our modern speech into the quantitative 
 poetry of the Greeks and Romans, and then imported 
 the term ' ictus ' to cover it. But just as the conception 
 of artificial stress in Latin poetry is false, so the term 
 ' ictus ' is superfluous. %e<ji<i was employed by the an- 
 cient Greek writers on metric to designate the prom- 
 inent part of every fundamental foot, and is still entirely 
 adequate to cover that conception. 
 
 It remains to say a word with regard to elision, the 
 
 rule for which, as stated in our Latin grammars, is in 
 
 substance as follows : " A final vowel, a final 
 
 Elision. 
 
 diphthong, or tn with a preceding vowel, is 
 regularly elided before a word beginning with a vowel 
 or hy The exact nature of this elision, as observed by 
 the ancients in reading Latin verse, is still very uncer- 
 tain. The Romans may have slurred the words together 
 in some way, or they may have omitted the elided part 
 entirely. In practice, the latter procedure is probably 
 the wiser one to follow.'' 
 
 1 The writer has frequently been favoured by prominent advocates 
 of 'slurring,' with practical illustrations of the method of reading recom- 
 
LATIN PROSODY _ 1 89 
 
 In actual reading it will be well to bear in mind the 
 four following fundamental principles: 
 
 1 . Observe the quantity of each syllable gome Rules 
 scrupulously, taking care to observe the proper ^"r Readine- 
 division of the syllables, joining the first of two succes- 
 sive consonants with the preceding vowel, and so closing 
 the syllable. 
 
 2. Make the word-accent light; subordinate it care- 
 fully to quantity. 
 
 3. Endeavour to cultivate the quantitative sense, /. e. 
 to feel the verse as consisting of a succession of long 
 and short intervals. 
 
 4. Do not attempt to give special expression to the 
 ' ictus ' in any way. The ' ictus ' (which is only quan- 
 titative prominence) will take care of itself, if the sylla- 
 bles are properly pronounced. 
 
 The conception of ' ictus ' here advocated is not as 
 yet generally accepted by classical scholars ; but teach- 
 ers are nevertheless urged to put it to the test of expe- 
 rience. A fuller exposition of the view may be found 
 in a paper by the author in the American yournal 
 of Philology, vol. xix. p. 316 ff., parts of which have 
 been quoted in this chapter. In vol. xx. p. 198 ff. of 
 the same periodical will be found some criticisms of my 
 views, and at p. 413 ff. will b'e found my reply. But 
 whatever be the view with regard to ' ictus ' no one 
 
 mended by them ; but these experiments have invariably seemed to 
 result in producing more syllables than the verse demands. For exam- 
 ple, in a verse like 
 
 Vix a-de|o ag-no|vit, 
 
 the second foot has inevitably taken the form ^ , where slurring 
 
 was attempted, while in a verse like 
 
 Tan-dem | cor-ri-pu|it se|se atque i-ni|mi-ca re|fii-git, 
 
 the fourth foot, by slurring, has become w _ w w w- 
 
igo LATIN PROSODY 
 
 disputes the soundness of what has above been urged 
 with regard to observing scrupulously the quantity of 
 each vowel and of each syllable, and it is predicted that 
 a faithful observance of quantity will bring an empirical 
 justification of the soundness of what has been set forth 
 concerning the nature of ' ictus.' 
 
 If there be one argument in favour of retaining the 
 Roman pronunciation of Latin, it is that by that pro- 
 nunciation faithfully observed one may re- 
 the Roman produce the quantitative character of ancient 
 MetnodofPro- Latin poetry. But it is only by faithful 
 observance of the quantity of every vowel 
 and every syllable that this can be done. So long as 
 the Roman pronunciation is retained, this accuracy ought 
 to be striven for. But even when it is attained, it is 
 doubtful whether the achievement supplies a sufficient 
 justification for maintaining the Roman pronunciation 
 of Latin. Beautiful as is the correct reading of Latin 
 poetry, I cannot feel that it is worth the price which 
 we must pay for it, particularly when one reflects upon 
 the extremely small number of those who ever ac- 
 quire a pronunciation of even approximate quantitative 
 accuracy. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 30MS UISCBIiLAKBOUS POINTS 
 
 Roman History — Comparative Philology — Etymology — Illus- 
 trative Material : Books — Maps — Photographs — Casts. 
 
 a. Roman History. Much excellent work in this sub- 
 ject is undoubtedly done in the schools. Nor is there 
 any lack of good text-books in the field. Roman 
 Yet the knowledge of Roman history brought History, 
 to college by the average freshman is something lament- 
 ably meagre and defective. Students are often ignorant 
 
 of the commonest facts of Roman history. I „^, , 
 
 -' students are 
 
 have frequently asked my freshmen such ele- ignorant of 
 mentary questions as 'Who was Clodius?' 
 ' Whai was the issue that brought on the Punic Wars ? ' 
 only to meet with blank faces at the benches before me. 
 Nor are the chronological conceptions of students for this 
 period of history what they ought to be. I was once 
 giving a course of lectures to juniors and seniors in one 
 of the historic New England colleges now well along in 
 its second century. My subject was the topography 
 and monuments of ancient Rome. As my auditors were 
 all men of classical training and classical interests, I 
 naturally took certain things for granted. In this spirit, 
 I naturally referred with confidence to such historic 
 characters as Augustus, the Flavian emperors, the 
 Antonines, Constantine, etc. Yet it took me but a short 
 time to see that something was wrong. By the eyes of 
 my students, I could see that I was not striking home. 
 
192 SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 
 
 When I came to quiz them on the matter which I had 
 presented with all the clearness in my power, I found 
 they had gained no adequate conception of the element- 
 ary survey of the successive architectural eras of Rome 
 which I had endeavoured to characterize. In the 
 endeavour to secure a ttoO cttoj, I put the question, 
 'When did Augustus reign?' '500 A. D.' was the 
 response from the first man' I asked. As this reply 
 failed to meet approval, another student volunteered an 
 estimate. ' 1500 A. D.' was the answer, as I turned to 
 him. On another occasion I was lecturing on the his- 
 tory of Roman Uterature. My theme was Roman 
 tragedy in the days of the Republic. My opening sen- 
 tence ran something like this : ' Roman tragedy was a 
 close imitation of Greek tragedy, that literary glory of 
 the Periclean Age.' Then, in accordance with my some- 
 what informal manner of lecturing, I paused and put, 
 to the first student whose eye I caught, the question : 
 ' What was this Periclean Age and when was it ? ' The 
 student was a young woman in her senior year, who was 
 specializing in Greek and was writing a thesis in that 
 department. My query, however, was too much for her. 
 She could only say that she had heard of the Age of 
 Pericles, but was unable to locate or characterize it. 
 These two cases are, of course, extreme ones, yet a long 
 experience in three great American universities per- 
 suades me that they are somewhat typical. Ignorance 
 is not often so pronounced as in the instances just cited, 
 and, when it is, it is probably confined to a small minority 
 of a class. Yet classes, as a whole, certainly cannot be 
 trusted to know the fundamental events and tendencies 
 of Roman antiquity which the instructor of college fresh- 
 men ought to be able to take for granted as a permanent 
 possession of all his students. 
 
 With institutions, political, religious, and social, the 
 
SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 193 
 
 student is almost sure to be even less familiar. He has 
 either no conception or a false one with regard to the 
 different elements of the Roman poUtical organization. 
 Senate, consul, aedile, quaestor, censor, praetor, tribune, 
 imperium, comitia centuriata, comitia tributa, etc., — all 
 these are apt to be but empty names. The notion that 
 these magistrates and bodies were a part of the working 
 machinery of the Roman state seems to have eluded the 
 bulk of the students who come to college. Much less 
 are such students able to give any precise statements of 
 magisterial or legislative function and prerogative. 
 
 I am, therefore, compelled to feel that the work of 
 the secondary school in Roman history falls far short 
 of what ought to be realized. Nor do I speak primarily 
 as a college teacher, to whom ignorance of the funda- 
 mental facts and tendencies of Roman antiquity cannot 
 fail to be a serious handicap in every college course in 
 Latin. I speak quite as much from a sense of what the 
 Latin pupils of the secondary school — to say nothing of 
 any others — ought, as pupils of Roman antiquity, to 
 know, and to know well, whether they go to college or 
 not. A minute and detailed knowledge will not of 
 course be expected ; it will not be possible either. But 
 some things are possible, are achieved in ^^^^^ ^ „ 
 England, France, and Germany, and ought to to be Ex- 
 be not only expected but actually realized in '*'***• 
 the United States. These things are : 
 
 1. A clear conception of the different periods of 
 Roman history, particularly with reference to constitu- 
 tional development, territorial expansion, and 
 internal social and economic problems. These 
 
 periods are, in the main, sharply differentiated and 
 strongly characterized. They are also relatively few in 
 number. 
 
 2. A knowledge of the great characters of Roman 
 
 13 
 
194 SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 
 
 history. Fabricius, Curius, Camillus, Decius, Cincin- 
 natus, Scipio, Marcellus, Pompey, Cicero, 
 Caesar, — even the last two of these, — are 
 unfortunately often nothing but familiar names — some 
 of them are not even that — to the mind of the average 
 student. I think it is not too much to demand that the 
 pupil know their personality and carry in his mind some 
 record of their positive achievements. 
 
 3. Some knowledge of dates. I am well aware that 
 a mere parrot-like capacity to reel off dates is no evi- 
 dence of a knowledge of history, and that a 
 
 Chronology. ,. . ,, . ^ ■' , ,, 
 
 very ordmary mtellect is frequently capable 
 
 of memorizing such details without appreciating the 
 facts with which they are connected. Yet in spite of 
 this possible (not frequent) perversion of study, there 
 are many dates that every student ought to know. It is 
 a safe statement to say that if an event is important, its 
 date is important. The founding of Rome, the expul- 
 sion of the kings, the great landmarks in the strife 
 between the orders, the Cornelian law, the Hortensian 
 law, the Decemvirate, the Licinian Rogations, the war 
 with Pyrrhus, the battle of Zama, the destruction of 
 Corinth, the Social War, the strife of Marius and Sulla, 
 the assassination of Caesar, the battle of Actium, — 
 these and the like are great events of whose chrono- 
 logical location in the course of Roman history no pupil 
 should be ignorant. When a student tells me that 
 Cicero was born 300 B. C, I cannot accept as valid his 
 plea that he never had the faculty for learning dates. I 
 see at once that he has never had any adequate con- 
 ception of Roman history. 
 
 4. Lastly, I feel that the secondary student of Roman 
 Institutions ^^^^'^^Y ought to have some orderly and sys- 
 tematic knowledge of Roman institutions. 
 
 I do not, of course, presume that he shall be famihar 
 
SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 195 
 
 with every detail of the working of the Roman constitu- 
 tion and with the functions and prerogatives of the 
 scores and hundreds of minor officials. But I do claim 
 that he ought at least to understand the Roman consti- 
 tution in its broad hues. He ought to know what the 
 Senate, and magistrates, and assemblies were, what 
 powers they had, how they did their work. He ought 
 to understand also the imperfections of the constitution, 
 and how and why it proved inadequate to the needs of 
 the later Republic. 
 
 Is the foregoing too much to ask? I cannot think it 
 is, or that secondary teachers will judge my demand's 
 excessive. One thing, however, is certain. Nothing 
 approaching it is now realized in our secondary schools 
 as a body, or in any considerable proportion of them. 
 Furthermore, could any such knowledge be assumed 
 in the graduates of secondary schools, it would mean a 
 veritable revolution in the possibilities of college teach- 
 ing, though the improvement is urged not in the interest 
 of the colleges but of the schools themselves. 
 
 b. Comparative Philology. There is an undoubted fas- 
 cination to most pupils in tracing the origin of words, 
 their development of meaning, and their cog- comparative 
 nates in other languages. There is also a ^i^oioey- 
 valuable historical training imparted in the conception 
 of the various Indo-European languages as originally 
 members of a single group, as descended in fact from 
 a common parent. Yet it is doubtful whether it is ad- 
 visable in the secondary school to press very far in 
 pursuit of these matters. Fascinating as is the com- 
 parison of such words as Greek KapBi'a, Lat. cor, English 
 /leart, German Herz ; Greek (o)8oVt-o?, Lat. dens; 
 English too{ii)th; German Zahn ; yet the study of 
 such equations is not properly the function to any 
 extent of either Greek or Latin instruction in the 
 
196 SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 
 
 secondary school. The function of such instruction is 
 to convey to the pupil first a knowledge of the language, 
 next of the literature, and lastly, so far as possible, 
 of the civilization of the ancient Greeks and Romans. 
 For none of these purposes is a knowledge of Latin in 
 its relations to the Indo-European parent-speech or 
 to the other Indo-European languages indispensable. 
 It can do no harm now and then to show the corre- 
 spondence in several languages of cognate words, and to 
 point out the historical significance of such correspond- 
 ence ; but to make much of this seems to me a serious 
 mistake, for the reason that such work inevitably diverts 
 attention from the essential purposes of Latin study in 
 the school. And so when I see young teachers, fresh 
 perhaps from the enthusiasm of university studies, in- 
 culcating in secondary pupils the subtleties of Grimm's 
 law, of Grassmann's and Verner's laws, of Ablaut and 
 nasalis sonans, I cannot help deploring their misdirected 
 energy. These philological matters are important in 
 their place, but I cannot believe that that place is the 
 secondary school. 
 
 c. Etymology. The tracing of words to their origins 
 within the limits of the Latin language itself is an exer- 
 cise of much more importance, — one, in fact, 
 
 Etymology. T ^ , -r 1 
 
 which cannot be neglected. To a large ex- 
 tent, of course, the origin of words is obvious. The 
 pupil does not need to be told that amabilis comes 
 from amo, or potentia from potens. With regard to other 
 words help is necessary, and it is cause for regret that 
 many of the manuals to which the pupil naturally refers 
 for information on these points are so inadequate and 
 so antiquated. This is particularly true of the standard 
 lexicons and dictionaries of Latin. All of them are 
 culpably behind the times. The same is true of most 
 of the " word-lists " which often accompany editions of 
 
SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS I97 
 
 school classics. The vocabularies of our standard edi- 
 tions of Caesar, Cicero, and Virgil have in recent years 
 been greatly improved, and are now fairly representative 
 of our present knowledge in the field of etymology. 
 
 d. Illustrative Material. This I shall treat under 
 the successive headings of Books, Maps, luustraUve 
 Photographs, Casts. Material. 
 
 Books. The number of books needed for reference 
 in the library of the secondary school is not great; 
 yet some books are practically indispens- 
 able. I shall undertake to enumerate the ^°^^' 
 most important. 
 
 Lexicons. In the way of lexicons, Harper's Latin 
 
 Dictionary (American Book Co., New York) is, with all 
 
 its deficiencies, still our best Latin Diction- , , 
 
 Lexicons. 
 
 ary. This work does not mark hidden vowel 
 
 quantities; but the vowels are carefully marked in an 
 
 abridgment of the same book : C. T. Lewis, Elementary 
 
 Latin Dictionary. New York, American Book Co. 
 
 Grammars. Besides the Latin grammar used as a 
 
 basis for the ordinary class-room work, it is well to 
 
 have in the school library one or two of „ 
 
 . Grammars, 
 
 the larger and completer Latin Grammars. 
 
 Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (New York, University 
 Publishing Co.) edited by Lodge is unexcelled for this 
 purpose. Bennett's Latin Language (Boston, AUyn & 
 Bacon) will also be found a useful work on points of 
 pronunciation, orthography, hidden quantity, accent, 
 origin of inflectional forms, growth of syntactical con- 
 structions, etc. 
 
 For Synonyms there is the work of Doederlein, Hand- 
 book of Latin Synonyms. Andover, Mass. W. F. 
 Draper; also Shumway, A Hand-book of Latin Syno- 
 nyms. Boston, Ginn & Co. The lexicons also by 
 their definitions give valuable assistance in distinguish- 
 ing differences of meaning in synonymous words. 
 
198 SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 
 
 Antiquities. Under this head, the best single book is 
 . „ ,^ the recently revised edition of William Snnith's 
 
 AnUqulties. _. ,.^, ,t. *•■• 
 
 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 
 London, John Murray; Boston, Little, Brown, & Co. 
 2 vols. Other works are : 
 
 Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. 
 New York, American Book Co. 
 
 Seyffert. Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. London, S. 
 Sonnenschein & Co. ; New York, Macmillan Co. 
 
 Rich. A Dictionary of Roman and Greek Antiquities. 
 London and New York, Longmans, Green, & Co. 
 
 All of these are dictionaries arranged on the alpha- 
 betical plan. Books of a different arrangement are : 
 
 Abbott, F. F. Roman Political Institutions. Boston, Ginn 
 k Co. 
 
 Ramsay. A Manual of Roman Antiquities. London, Griffin ; 
 New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 Gow. Companion to School Classics. London, Macmillan 
 & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, The Macmillan Co. 
 
 Hill, G. F. Illustrations of School Classics. London, Mac- 
 millan & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, Macmillan Co. 
 
 For the narrower field of private life may be noted : 
 
 Preston & Dodge. The Private Life of the Romans. Boston, 
 Benjamin H. Sanborn & Co. 
 
 Fowler, W. Warde. Social Life at Rome. London, Mac- 
 millan & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, The Macmillan Co. 
 
 Abbott, F. F. Society and Politics in Ancient Rome. 
 New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 Becker. Gallus, or Roman Scenes in the Time of Augustus. 
 London and New York, Longmans, Green, & Co. 
 
 There are also several publications of plates which 
 are well worthy of a place in the school library : 
 
 Cybulski, S. Bilderatlas, and Tabulae quibus antiquitates 
 Romanae illustrantur. Leipzig, Koehler. 
 
 Baumeister, A. Bilder aus dem griechischen und romischen 
 Altertum, fiir Schiiler zusammengestellt. Munich, R. Oldenbourg. 
 
 Schreiber, Th. Atlas of Classical Antiquities. London, 
 Macmillan & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, Macmillan Co. 
 
SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 199 
 
 Topography and Archeology. Recent years have been 
 rich in works on the topography and remains Topopaphy 
 of Rome and Pompeii. The best books are : oiogy. 
 
 Plainer, S. B. Ancient Rome. Boston, AUyn & Bacon. 
 
 Middleton, J. H. The Remains of Ancient Rome. London, 
 A. & C. Black ; New York, Macmillan Co. 
 
 Lanciani, R. The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient 
 Rome. London, Macmillan & Co. (Ltd.) ; Boston, Houghton, 
 Mifflin, & Co. 
 
 Mau, A. Pompeii : Its Life and Art. London, Macmillan 
 & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, Macmillan Co. 
 
 Geography. In the field of geography, the most conven- 
 ient books are William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and 
 Roman Geography. London, John Murray ; Geography. 
 Boston, Little, Brown, & Co. 2 vols. ; or the 
 same author's Classical Dictionary of Biography, Myth- 
 ology, and Geography. London, John Murray. This 
 last is an abbreviation and combination of two of Dr. 
 Smith's larger dictionaries. These, however, are some- 
 what out of date. Recent and of the very highest 
 authority is Kiepert's Ancient Geography. A useful 
 httle manual is Tozer's Classical Geography. London, 
 Macmillan & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, American Book 
 Co. The best classical atlas is that of Kiepert. London, 
 Williams & Norgate ; Boston, Benjamin H. Sanborn & Co. 
 
 History. Every school library should con- 
 tain the standard Roman histories : 
 
 Mommsen. The History of Rome. London, Macmillan & 
 Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 4 vols. 
 
 Merivale. History of the Romans under the Empire. London 
 and New York, Longmans, Green, & Co. 8 vols. 
 
 Mommsen. The Provinces of the Roman Empire from Caesar 
 to Diocletian. London, Macmillan & Co. (Ltd.) ; New York, 
 Charles Scribner's Sons. 2 vols. 
 
 Ferrero, G. Greatness and DecKne of Rome. New York, 
 Putnams. 5 vols. 
 
 Gibbon. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Lon- 
 don, Methuen & Co. 7 vols. ; New York, Macmillan Co. 4 vols. 
 
200 SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 
 
 Besides these standard works, a number of volumes in 
 the Epoch Series are of very great value, presenting, as 
 they do, the chief facts and features of important eras 
 in condensed form. Especially to be noted are : 
 
 Ihne, Early Rome ; Merivale, The Roman Triumvirates ; 
 Capes, The Early Empire ; also Capes, The Age of the Anto- 
 nines. All of these are published in London and New York by 
 Longmans, Green, & Co. 
 
 Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography 
 and Mythology (London, John Murray ; Boston, Little, 
 Brown, & Co. 3 vols.), though now somewhat antiquated, 
 is still an excellent work. 
 
 Smith's Classical Dictionary (Biography, Mythology, 
 Geography), an abbreviation of the larger dictionaries, 
 is also entirely adequate for all ordinary purposes of 
 reference. 
 
 Roman Literature. Not much is needed here, and 
 this little is fortunately accessible in the excellent 
 Roman manual of J. W. Mackail: Latin Literature. 
 
 Literature. London, John Murray; New York, Charles 
 Scribner's Sons. Other admirable books are J. W. Duff, 
 A Literary History of Rome. New York, Charles Scrib- 
 ner's Sons; H. N. Fowler, History of Roman Litera- 
 ture. New York, D. Appleton & Co. ; W. C. Lawton, 
 Introduction to Classical Latin Literature. New York, 
 Charles Scribner's Sons. Excellent notices of the Latin 
 writers may also be found in Smith's Dictionary of 
 Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, or in 
 the shorter Classical Dictionary (Biography, Mythology, 
 and Geography) of the same author. 
 
 Mythology. The fullest works of reference are either 
 the larger work of Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Ro- 
 man Biography and Mythology, or the smaller 
 ytnoogy. daggical Dictionary of the same author 
 already noted. Of smaller works may be mentioned : 
 
 Guerber, Helen. Myths of Greece and Rome. New York, 
 American Book Co. 
 
SOME MISCELLANEOUS POINTS 20I 
 
 Gayley, Charles M. Classic Myths in English Literature. 
 Boston, Ginn & Co. 
 
 Murray, A. S. Manual of Mythology. New York, Charles 
 Scribner's Sons. 
 
 Harrington and Tolman. Greek and Roman Mythology. 
 Boston, Benjamin H. Sanborn & Co. 
 
 Roman Sculpture. In this field we now have the admir- 
 able work of Eugenie Strong, Roman Sculpture. Lon- 
 don, Duckworth ; New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 Bibliographical. A suggestive little book is Harring- 
 ton, Helps to the Intelligent Study of College Prepar- 
 atory Latin. Boston ; Ginn & Co. Useful, BibUograpM- 
 too, is the List of Books Recommended for '^ Helps, 
 a High School Classical Library by the Michigan School- 
 masters' Club. Ann Arbor, Sheehan & Co. 
 
 Maps. A few good maps hung upon the wall or 
 suspended from rollers are a practical necessity for 
 effective Latin teaching. One needs a map 
 of the ancient world, also special maps of at 
 least Italy, Greece, and Gaul ; if possible, also a good 
 topographical map of Rome and vicinity. The fore- 
 going are ample for ordinary needs, but they ought to 
 be in constant requisition. The best maps are those pre- 
 pared by Kiepert and published by D. Reimer, Berlin. 
 
 Photographs. These are now fortunately so cheap 
 as to be within the reach of all schools. A judicious 
 selection of photographs of famous classical 
 localities, famous buildings, or famous works 
 of art does much to brighten the school-room and to 
 add reality to the subject matter of the authors read. 
 For a suggested list of photographs, see p. 331. 
 
 Casts. So, too, a few casts of the famous portrait 
 
 busts of distinguished Romans are often a 
 
 Casts, 
 desirable addition to the class-room. Like 
 
 photographs, they are effective in lending vividness 
 
 to a study of the past. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE PBEPARATIOW OF THE TEACHEK 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Kussell, J. E. German Higher Schools. New York and London : 
 Longmans, Green, & Co. 1899. Chapter xviii. " The Professional 
 Training of Teachers." 
 
 Bolton, P. E. The Secondary School System of Germany. New 
 York: D. Appleton & Co. 1900. London: Edward Arnold. Chapter ii. 
 pp. 55-119. 
 
 Thus far no mention has been made of what must be 
 admitted by all to be the most vital element in the or- 
 ganization of the secondary school, namely, the teacher. 
 I shall make no attempt to sketch the requisites in the 
 way of character and of personality which must be 
 sought in the efficient teacher, whether of Latin or 
 any other branch. Nor shall I call attention to the 
 importance of that capacity to give instruction which 
 seems to me inborn and as impossible to impart as 
 health or personal beauty. I shall speak only of the 
 academic training desirable for the man or woman who 
 presumably possesses these first requisites of character, 
 personality, and talent for teaching. 
 
 In the preparation of our teachers is to be found 
 
 perhaps the weakest point of American edu- 
 Our Americas ... .... r.i <■ 
 
 Training of cation. An mvestigation of the causes for 
 
 n^f^"^* this might be interesting and profitable, but 
 
 it is out of place here. The fact, I believe, 
 
 is incontestable that we are far behind the great 
 
PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 203 
 
 nations of Europe — Germany, France, England, Nor- 
 way, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, and even Russia — 
 in the loftiness of our conception of the teacher's func- 
 tion and in the seriousness of our preparation for the 
 teacher's duties. 
 
 A better sentiment is now manifesting itself, and it is 
 to the credit of our best educational leaders that they 
 are keenly conscious of our shortcomings and are strain- 
 ing every energy to remedy them. Yet the task is 
 so large, and its importance as yet so far from being 
 generally appreciated, that it certainly cannot be super- 
 fluous to call attention here to our great deficiencies in 
 the training of our teachers of Latin. 
 
 Let us look a moment at the preparation of the Latin 
 teacher of the German secondary schools, the Gymna- 
 sien. In the first place, such a teacher has preparation 
 studied Latin for nine years and Greek for "f German 
 six years at some Gymnasium. This work 
 extends ordinarily from the ninth or tenth to the 
 eighteenth or nineteenth year. During this cssaisi of 
 period the pupil reads, with a thorough- study in the 
 ness unknown to us in America, substantially y™^'**"™- 
 the following authors and works : Nepos, Caesar {Gallic 
 War, i-vii), Ovid {Metamorphoses, selections), Virgil, 
 (^^neid), Cicero (seven Orations and selections from 
 the Letters), Livy (i, xxi, xxii), Horace (Odes, i-iv, 
 selections; Epodes, Satires, jG^^w/Z^j, selections), Tacitus 
 (Annals, i, ii ; Histories, i; Germanid). Besides this 
 there is an extensive amount of private reading in Sal- 
 lust, Livy, Curtius, Cicero, and other authors. The 
 language, too, receives constant attention not only in 
 the minute study of the grammar, but also by way of 
 writing Latin. In this latter exercise a wonderful facil- 
 ity is gained by the students of the higher classes of the 
 Gytnnasien. I have witnessed students in the highest 
 
204 PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 
 
 class translate two solid pages of continuous German 
 into Latin within thirty minutes. This was an oral 
 exercise, and the German was not closely modelled on 
 any original Latin, as is often customary with us. I re- 
 member well the fine disdain of the rector of this par- 
 ticular school, when I asked him whether this was a 
 review lesson. 
 
 With these attainments in Latin and with correspond- 
 ing attainments in Greek as the result of a six years' 
 study of that subject, the student comes to the univer- 
 sity at the age of eighteen or nineteen to specialize 
 more closely in his chosen field. Yet up to this time, he 
 has not devoted himself exclusively to classics ; these 
 have been the chief and most exacting studies of the 
 gymnasial course, but mathematics are pursued through 
 quadratic equations, solid geometry, and plane trigo- 
 nometry; much attention is paid to the German lan- 
 guage, literature, and history; French is pursued for 
 several years; natural science, including natural his- 
 tory, physics, and chemistry, is pursued two hours a 
 week for the entire nine years; writing, drawing, sing- 
 ing, and gymnastics are also included ; English and 
 Hebrew are elective. Such is the liberal foundation of 
 the young man of eighteen or nineteen who leaves the 
 Gymnasium for the University, and who, I assume, is 
 intending to fit himself for the career of a teacher of 
 University Latin in German secondary schools. Arrived 
 Study. ^). ^j^g university, he devotes himself almost 
 
 exclusively to the study of the classical languages, litera- 
 tures, and civilizations. He takes courses in historical 
 Latin grammar, in historical Latin syntax, on Roman 
 literature, Roman history, epigraphy, private antiquities, 
 political antiquities, archaeology, metric, palaeography, 
 Roman comedy, etc. ; he becomes the member of one of 
 the seminaries and devotes days to preparing a paper 
 
PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 205 
 
 on perhaps only twenty lines of a Satire of Horace, en- 
 deavouring to constitute the text with scientific preci- 
 sion and to interpret the passage, in the light of all 
 accessible information, in the most thorough and ac- 
 curate fashion. His courses in Greek are similar in 
 character. Besides this, he must take some work in 
 philosophy, ancient or modern, and in the science of 
 education. 
 
 The minimum period of residence for those prepar- 
 ing to become teachers is legally three years, but' in 
 practice the period is more often four years, ^^^ Examl- 
 or even five. When he has finished his nation for 
 period of study, the candidate presents him- 
 self for the trying ordeal of the teachers' examination, 
 without passing which no one can secure a license to 
 teach. 
 
 This examination involves (i) a searching test of the 
 candidate's knowledge of the classics; (2) a knowledge 
 of philosophy (psychology, logic, ethics) and the science 
 of education; (3) a familiarity with the German lan- 
 guage and literature; (4) a knowledge of the doctrines 
 of his religion. 
 
 "The examination is both oral and written. The 
 written test comes first, and consists in the writing of 
 elaborate essays on themes assigned by the commission. 
 One theme is on some topic in philosophy or pedagogy, 
 and is designed to test the candidate's knowledge of the 
 philosophical basis of pedagogy and didactics, and of 
 the development of educational thought. ... If the 
 applicant has published something of note, as, for in- 
 stance, a dissertation for the degree of doctor of phi- 
 losophy, it may be offered as a substitute for one of the 
 essays. Essays that deal with a classical language must 
 be written in Latin ; with the modern languages, in 
 French or English, as the case may be. . . . Six weeks 
 
2o6 PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 
 
 are allowed for the preparation of each essay, and the 
 commission is empowered to grant an extension of six 
 weeks, — making twelve weeks in all, if necessary, on 
 the subject." ^ 
 
 This written examination, if satisfactory, is followed 
 by an oral examination before a specially appointed 
 examiner. If both the written and oral tests are suc- 
 cessfully met, the candidate receives a certificate author- 
 izing him to teach. 
 
 " The intending teacher, even with his certificate in 
 his hand, has yet other gauntlets to run. The certificate 
 The Probe- of itself confers no right to teach. Some- 
 jahre. thing more than general culture and minute 
 
 scholarship is required. It is safe to say that Germany 
 owes more to the pedagogical training of her teachers 
 than to any other factor in their preparation. It is the 
 professional spirit, which every German teacher feels, 
 that differentiates him from his species in other coun- 
 tries, and this spirit is the result chiefly of his pedagogi- 
 cal training."^ Accordingly the German candidate is 
 obliged to spend two additional years of apprenticeship 
 even after he has passed the rigid teachers' examination. 
 The first of these two years is spent in a Seminarium, 
 where the intending teacher receives special advanced 
 instruction in the practical problems of the secondary 
 school. The second year is devoted to actual instruc- 
 tion (only seven or eight hours a week) under the 
 supervision of some experienced teacher. 
 
 Such is the preparation of the German teacher who is 
 to go into the secondary school and give instruction in 
 the beginning Latin work, in Nepos, Caesar, Cicero, 
 Virgil, etc. Contrast with this rigid and exacting course 
 
 1 Russell, German Higher Schools, p. 359/. 
 ' Russell, German Higher Schools, p. 363. 
 
PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 207 
 
 of training the conditions prevalent in our own country ! 
 In the first place, teaching with us does not 
 rank as a profession. As a result, the body offered by 
 of teachers is recruited largely from the ^^{^ 
 ranks of recent college graduates, who resort 
 to teaching as a makeshift while they are accumulating 
 the means to pursue their special preparation for medi- 
 cine, the law, or something else ; or from young women 
 who turn to teaching as a respectable occupation during 
 the period they spend between the completion of their 
 education and marriage. Even among the small number 
 of those who enter the vocation of Latin teaching deliber- 
 ately with the intention of making it their life work, few 
 are at all adequately equipped for their tasks. Many of 
 them have never been to college at all. Some few have 
 had one or two years of undergraduate study of Latin. 
 Fewer have made it a serious study throughout their 
 course, while the number of those who have had a year 
 or two of graduate study is so small as to constitute 
 practically a vanishing quantity in the great sea of 
 poorly equipped teachers of the subject. 
 
 Without good teachers, it must be impossible to have 
 good teaching, and we shall never have good teachers 
 of Latin or anything else (except as exceptions to the 
 
 prevailing mediocrity) until we set as a first 
 
 .. ,, , T J- I. 1 J X Knowledge 
 
 requisite a lofty standard of knowledge of ^f o„e's sut- 
 
 t/ie subject to be taught. Force of character, JecttiePrime 
 magnetic personality, pedagogic skill, are all 
 necessary in their way, but the man or woman who pos- 
 sesses all of these and who is not saturated with the 
 most thorough knowledge of the subject he or she has 
 to teach is incapable of making the teacher that we 
 have a right to demand in our secondary schools, not 
 merely in Latin but in other branches as well. In my 
 judgment, the greatest defect in American education to- 
 
208 PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 
 
 day is the prevailing superficiality in the attainments of 
 American teachers. They do not know their subjects. 
 At least they do not know Latin as well as they ought 
 in order to teach it even with a moderate degree of suc- 
 cess. There are noble exceptions to this sweeping state- 
 ment, which is meant only to characterize the general 
 field of Latin teaching. Nor would I pass 
 no^tiiem^*" judgment on the mass of the incompetent. 
 
 selves Re- Thev are almost without exception men and 
 
 sponsiMefor . , r • j 
 
 tbe American women of character, oi serious and earnest 
 
 System. purpose, and faithful, often to the detriment 
 
 of their health, in the performance of their tasks. They 
 are, nevertheless, endeavouring to achieve the impossible, 
 — to perform a work involving the employment of large 
 resources, without ever having secured the necessary pre- 
 paration. They are victims of a system which nothing 
 but a quickening of the pubhc conscience, local, state, 
 and national, can alter. But the change is inevitable. It 
 will not come in a moment; it is now in progress, how- 
 ever, and the devoted teacher should be the one above 
 all others to give comfort and support to this forward 
 movement, for it will give to the teacher new ideals, 
 new life, and new dignity. It is to be hoped that the 
 time is approaching, and is not far distant, when teachers 
 in the Americaa secondary schools, like those in Ger- 
 many, will, as a result of their completer preparation 
 for their profession, not merely be better teachers, but 
 will also; as a result of their enthusiasm for Latin and 
 their devotion to it, be numbered among the ranks of 
 those who by their labour shall, as investigators, add to 
 the sum of our knowledge of classical antiquity. In 
 Germany valuable work of this kind is constantly ema- 
 nating from the teachers of the secondary schools. A 
 number of the very ablest classical productions in that 
 country have come from this source. 
 
PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 209 
 
 To be specific, it may be well to sketch briefly the 
 range and degree of knowledge that may be fairly ex- 
 pected of the teacher of Latin. First of all, a Fair 
 the teacher must have an exact knowledge of Demand- 
 the Latin language, for the language is the indispensable 
 instrument with which the pupil works in his study of 
 Latin. How wide must this -knowledge of the language 
 be on the teacher's part? What should it embrace? 
 Will a thorough mastery of some approved manual of 
 grammar suffice ? Far from it ! The teacher should be 
 above any one book. He must be familiar with many 
 works of divergent views. In practical teaching he will 
 meet, or ought to meet, incessantly with problems 
 covering the whole range of the linguistic field, some 
 suggested by his own study and experience, others sug- 
 gested by his eager pupils. If these problems are to be 
 met and solved, instead of being brushed aside in indo- 
 lence or by artful evasion, the teacher must know the 
 means available for their solution. Does some question 
 of inflexions come up, — the vocative of deus ; the perfect 
 of eo? He must know the manuals that afford the full- 
 est and freshest information. Is it a question of spelling, 
 — quom vs. cum or qtiuiii ; Juppiter or Jupiter? It is 
 not enough to accept the statement of a grammar, how- 
 ever excellent ; the teacher must know the sources and 
 be able to gather the evidence for himself. Is it a ques- 
 tion of pronunciation, as of v,ph, th, ce? Or of quantity, 
 as in victoria, jussus ? Or of syntactical theory or prac- 
 tice? Or some other of the important linguistic ques- 
 tions which are perpetually pressing for answer? In 
 every case the teacher ought to know the literature of 
 his subject and be able to draw his own independent 
 conclusion in view of the available evidence. 
 
 But while the language must be put first and fore- 
 most in the equipment of the adequately prepared 
 
 14 
 
2IO PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 
 
 teacher, there are many other fields in which he must 
 be more than a tyro. Some special knowledge of an- 
 cient geography should be his, — particularly some 
 knowledge of the topography of ancient Rome. The 
 historical disciplines, too, have a large claim to make, 
 which cannot safely be ignored. Under this head come 
 not merely political history, but the allied disciplines 
 of philosophy, mythology, and the history of literature. 
 Again we have the broad domain of Roman antiquities, 
 — political, private, religious, and legal, a knowledge of 
 each of them being practically indispensable. Some 
 knowledge of the nature and methods of textual criti- 
 cism, too, must the teacher have before he can properly 
 understand the condition in which the ancient texts have 
 come down to us and the spirit in which their modern 
 interpretation should be approached. That the prospec- 
 tive teacher also should have read widely in the field 
 of the classical literature will of course be taken for 
 granted, and that his familiarity with Latin is such that 
 he can interpret any ordinary passage of simple prose 
 without extensive recourse to lexicon or commentary. 
 
 The foregoing demands by no means exhaust the 
 possibilities of the teacher's preliminary training. I 
 have designedly omitted many important branches, such 
 as the Italic dialects (Oscan and Umbrian), epigraphy, 
 palaeography, along with the various departments of 
 archseology, such as architecture, sculpture, pottery, 
 painting, numismatics, to say nothing of others. I have 
 simply outlined the " irreducible minimum " which it 
 seems to me the teacher must have in order adequately 
 to meet the legitimate demands which will be made upon 
 him in the conscientious performance of his daily duty. 
 One other addition, however, must be made, namely, a 
 knowledge of Greek. The teacher of Greek may per- 
 haps do without Latin, but the Latin teacher cannot do 
 
PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 211 
 
 without Greek. All Roman civilization is so dominated 
 by Greek influences and Greek ideas, that the person 
 ignorant of Greek is incapable of understanding and 
 interpreting to others the significance of Roman life 
 and thought. 
 
 When our Latin teachers have something like the 
 equipment I have described we shall no longer merit 
 the reproach of a recent critic,^ who declares that the 
 majority of our high-school teachers are hardly fit to 
 teach in a primary school, and the majority of primary 
 teachers are just enough educated to fill a salesgirl's 
 place in a millinery store. 
 
 Obviously such training as I have described involves 
 no small outlay of time and means. It involves special- 
 ization in Latin throughout the college course, and it 
 involves probably at least two years of severer specializa- 
 tion in classics after graduation. We may be slow in 
 attaining the standard indicated, but it is bound to 
 come, and until we reach it, or something approximating 
 it, we cannot honestly claim that we are doing our whole 
 duty by the pupils of our secondary schools. 
 
 One word as to " methods." It seems to me that in 
 our study of pedagogy we are often apt to overrate the 
 importance of these. As I understand it, the limitations of 
 science of education aims at two things : first, " MeUiods." 
 to give the history of educational theory and practice ; 
 secondly, to lay down certain fundamental psychological 
 principles applicable to all teaching. That it should 
 prescribe a definite and mechanical scheme for impart- 
 ing instruction in Latin or anything else would be pre- 
 posterous. Teaching is the very reverse of anything 
 mechanical ; it is simply constant skilful adaptation to 
 the momentary problem in hand. This problem varies 
 
 • Professor Munsterberg in Atlantic Monthly, May, igoa 
 
212 PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER 
 
 with the subject and the minds with which the teacher is 
 brought in contact. It is an unusual accident if precisely ' 
 the same situation confronts the same teacher twice 
 within any reasonable interval. There may be " methods " 
 for reducing ores, for making steel, for treating measles 
 and sore eyes, but the human mind is no such constant 
 factor as even the least constant of these things I have 
 mentioned. It recognises no universal solvent or pre- 
 scription. In other words, teaching is an art demanding 
 the fullest knowledge, the fullest judgment, the fullest 
 skill ; it is not intellectual quackery. Young teachers, I 
 beheve, cannot too carefully treasure this truth. 
 
CONCLUDING NOTE 
 
 In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to discuss 
 seriously the leading problems of secondary Latin edu- 
 cation as they now present themselves in this country. 
 Inspired by profound convictions as to the abiding 
 worth of Latin, I have naturally felt also a deep solici- 
 tude for the study. With this feehng I have spoken 
 plainly on those points where current tendencies and 
 current practice have seemed questionable or unwise. 
 I have not hesitated to avow my belief that most of 
 the changes which have characterized the study of 
 Latin in our secondary schools in the course of the 
 last twenty-five years have worked, and, so far as they 
 are still operative, are working to the distinct detri- 
 ment of the study. The Roman pronunciation, the 
 prevailing type of beginner's book, the bulky gram- 
 mar, the newer method of teaching Latin composition, 
 the insistence on the subjective method (direct inter- 
 pretation) in the early stages of the study, — all these 
 have long seemed to me to mark serious errors of 
 educational theory and practice. That scores of de- 
 voted teachers who have likewise given conscientious 
 thought to the same problems cherish opposite views 
 on all of these questions, I am, of course, aware, as 
 my extended consideration of their views in the fore- 
 going discussion amply shows. It is for practical \ 
 teachers in the light of their reason and experience to 
 determine where the truth lies. To promote its ultimate 
 
214 CONCLUDING NOTE 
 
 determination has been the sincere purpose of this 
 volume. 
 
 The friends of Latin should soberly consider that the 
 study is now on trial as never before. The attacks 
 against it are not merely reactionary, nor do they pro- 
 ceed alone from the prejudiced or the ill-informed. 
 They represent in many instances the deliberate convic- 
 tions of serious students of the problems of education, 
 — convictions which it is idle and wrong to ignore. If 
 the study is to retain its position as a permanent part of 
 the school curriculum, it can do so only by the positive 
 results it shows itself capable of producing. Whether 
 these shall commend themselves to educators will de- 
 pend not upon any theoretical claims or advantages 
 of the study, but upon wise and efficient instruction. 
 
THE TEACHING OF GREEK IN THE 
 SECONDARY SCHOOL 
 
 BY 
 GEORGE P. BRISTOL, A.M. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
The Teaching of Greek in the 
 Secondary School 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE AlM OF GKEEK STUDY IN THE HIGH SCHOOL 
 
 A selective bibliography for use in framing classical programmes for 
 secondary schools, compiled by Isaac B. Burgess, is to be found in The 
 School Review, vol. v. pp. 625-635. It contains a carefully arranged list 
 of articles bearing on the subject of Greek in the high school. The classi- 
 fication of the subject matter of these articles there made is as follows : 
 I. Facts as to the present condition of Latin and Greek in American 
 schools. II. Foreign secondary schools. III. Relation of Greek and 
 Latin to the modern languages and to the courses of the grammar 
 schools. IV. Specific suggested programmes. V. Psychology and 
 method. VI. Miscellaneous facts and arguments bearing on the classical 
 programmes of secondary schools. 
 
 That the position of Greek in the pubhc high school 
 at the present time is not a settled one will, I think, be 
 granted. The attacks upon it are too frequent position of 
 in number, and too varied in their character Greek now. 
 to permit its defenders to rest secure. It seems to me 
 that this condition is due in large measure to the 
 relation in which the pubhc high school in many 
 sections of the country stands to the older academy. 
 An important function of these academies was the 
 preparation of boys for college. The admission to 
 college was based partly upon a knowledge of Greek, 
 and the door was barred against the student who 
 could not offer at least something in this subject. But 
 gradually the boy without Greek found his way into 
 
2i8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 college, though not at first by the main entrance. First 
 a side door was opened to him, and if he passed through 
 college without a knowledge of Greek, his diploma indi- 
 cated this fact by showing a different degree. But after 
 awhile the " regular course" and the Bachelor of Arts 
 degree were not limited to the student of Greek. Latin 
 was longer required, but at the present time, though not 
 so largely as is the case with Greek, has ceased to be 
 indispensable to a college course and to what is called 
 somewhat indefinitely a " liberal education." 
 
 This is the present state of things with which we have 
 to deal, and this state of things has disposed of one argu- 
 ment for the study of Greek in the high school, viz., that 
 it is necessary to enable a pupil to enter college. The 
 case of Greek must be defended on its merits. Unless 
 there is value enough in its study for the student who 
 does not get beyond the high school to justify its reten- 
 tion, Greek will ultimately disappear from the curriculum 
 of the public high school. Of the private high school 
 it is not possible to speak with certainty. It contains 
 a much larger proportion of students who are looking 
 forward to a college course, and for this class Greek, 
 even when not required at the college of their choice, is 
 apt to be regarded in the light of a college course in it. 
 But I believe that we shall not be able to hold perma- 
 nently the prominent place for Greek in secondary educa- 
 tion which it has occupied unless we can successfully 
 maintain two points: first, that the study of Greek 
 gives results worth having; and, secondly, that these 
 results cannot be reached in any other way. The study 
 of Greek means hard and prolonged labour. There is no 
 " thirteen weeks in Greek," with a laying by of the sub- 
 ject at the end of that time. Two years of continuous 
 study is the minimum period recognised. Are the 
 benefits derived therefrom commensurate with the work ? 
 
IN TROD UCTION 2 1 9 
 
 I assume that two objects at least are to be gained by 
 the study of Greek in the secondary schools : first, to 
 enable a student to acquire the ability to read 
 a Greek text with the help of grammar, die- in High school 
 tionary, and an edition of the author read 1*°^°* 
 containing some commentary and some helps 
 on the more difficult passages. Further, to read a con- 
 siderable portion of one author and something at least 
 of another. Secondly, to gain such knowledge of the 
 principles underlying the formation and inflection of 
 words in Greek as will enable him to understand those 
 principles in their application in Greek itself, and in their 
 large and ever-increasing use in the vocabularies of the 
 various sciences, and in the vocabulary of science common 
 to all educated English-speaking people. 
 
 Under the first of these two heads, by the words 
 " ability to read," I do not mean the ability to stumble 
 through a sentence and to get the general drift Ability to 
 of the thought merely — I mean that complete ""* Greek, 
 knowledge of the structure of the Greek sentence, which 
 detects the shifted emphasis of a changed word order, 
 which distinguishes between the meaning of attributive 
 and predicate position in the sentence, which notes care- 
 fully the various balancing particles and so grasps the 
 proper relations of the various words in the clause, and 
 of clauses in the sentence. I mean a feeling for those 
 delicate shadings in expression and in composition which 
 make a Greek sentence a model of art. To acquire this 
 knowledge means careful study and close attention to 
 many little (i. e. minute) things. And it is just at this 
 point that the study of Greek is often and violently 
 attacked. This petty detail is considered in many quar- 
 ters as of very slight or even of no value. We are told 
 that the " Greek spirit," is the great thing to be gained; 
 "why, then, should one waste the pupil's time with 
 
220 INTRODUCTION 
 
 struggles over accents, over particles with minute differ- 
 ences of meaning? " I say at once that this appreciation 
 The "Greek of the " Greek spirit" is the greatest thing of 
 spirit." all. It is the goal toward which all should 
 
 strive. But it is not to be reached by any superficial 
 study of the various forms of art in which it found 
 expression. This very Greek spirit consisted, in part at 
 least, in a faithful attention to details, and it is in an 
 equally faithful attention to these details that we shall 
 see and appreciate it ourselves. It is given to a Keats 
 to grasp this spirit by intuition, but for the most of us 
 Hesiod's words hold true : 
 
 Trfi S' dper^s iSpoVra Qf.oi TrpcnrdpotOev idrjKav 
 a.6a.vaT0(. ' jxaKpoi Sk koI opOioi oi/ios is airiyv.. 
 
 Much is said and much is written on this point. I 
 quote the following statements which appeared not long 
 The Example ago in a journal of sound views in general, 
 of MacatUay because they seem to me to illustrate well a 
 very common attitude toward this subject. The writer is 
 arguing against the present methods of teaching the 
 classics, and in the course of his article says : " Every- 
 body remembers what a prodigious lot of Latin and 
 Greek Macaulay read on his outward voyage to India 
 and while at Calcutta. He wrote from Calcutta in 1834: 
 ' I read much and particularly Greek, and I find that I 
 am, in all essentials, still not a bad scholar. ... I read, 
 however, not as I read at college, but as a man of the 
 world. If I do not know a word, I pass it by, unless it 
 is important to the sense. If I find, as I have of late 
 often found, a passage which refuses to give up its mean- 
 ing at second reading, I let it alone. I have read during 
 the last fortnight, before breakfast, three books of He- 
 rodotus, and four plays of .^Eschylus.' It is perfectly 
 evident that Macaulay had some use and joy of his clas- 
 
INTRODUCTION 221 
 
 sics ' as a man of the world,' and it is notorious that not 
 one American college-bred man in a hundred has that 
 easy-going familiarity with Latin and Greek which he 
 had. Is the discipline of half-knowledge gained by the 
 drudgery of the grammar and lexicon in the old way so 
 precious and upbuilding that it must be forever set above 
 thorough knowledge and mastery? It is not the course 
 of instruction that needs revising, but the methods of 
 teaching." 
 
 The passage quoted from Macaulay is found in Tre- 
 velyan's Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, vol. i. p. 376. 
 In connection with it should be read the remaining pages 
 of the volume. I wish to insert here one sentence fur- 
 ther. Macaulay says (p. 379) : " I think myself very 
 fortunate in having been able to return to these great 
 masters while still in the full vigour of life, and when my 
 taste and judgment are mature. Most people read all 
 the Greek that they ever read before they are five and 
 twenty. They never find time for such studies after- 
 ward till they are in the decline of life ; and then their 
 knowledge of the language is in a great measure lost, 
 and cannot easily be recovered." This sentence follows 
 directly the statement that the blessing of loving liter- 
 ature as he loved it had been the chief means of keep- 
 ing him from sinking under the heavy blow of domestic 
 bereavement, and that chief among all his books were 
 his Greek authors. 
 
 It seems to me that this argument on the proper 
 method of teaching the classics in so far as it seeks to 
 base on the example of Macaulay proves -v^iat Macan- 
 exactly the opposite of what it is intended lay's case 
 to prove. I assume that it was intended to '^^^ ™eans. 
 prove that, since Macaulay read as a man of the world, 
 skipping a word now and then, or neglecting even a 
 whole sentence, so it would be profitable for a boy to be 
 
222 INTRODUCTION 
 
 trained in this way to read his Xenophon or his Cicero. 
 But in fact Macaulay read hke a man of the world, and 
 was able so to read, because he had back of him long 
 years of careful reading in school and in college. It 
 was the power and the knowledge gained in these years 
 of toil which enabled him to secure in after life the pleas- 
 ure he so dearly loved and prized. I venture a citation 
 or two from his letters home while at school. When thir- 
 teen he writes : " I do Xenophon every day and twice 
 a week the Odyssey, Latin verses twice a week. We 
 get by heart Greek grammar or Virgil every evening." 
 This on week days. " On Sunday," he says a little later, 
 " we learn a chapter in the Greek Testament, without 
 doing it with a dictionary, like other lessons." This, or 
 something like this, lasted for five years, only to be fol- 
 lowed when he went up to the University by an amount 
 of reading in the classics which would astonish an Ameri- 
 can college graduate, a college man even who had made 
 the classics his specialty. No, if any argument is to be 
 drawn from the case of Macaulay, so often cited, it is an 
 argument for thorough work from the start and for a 
 longer continuance of these studies than is now common. 
 But let me say frankly that I do not believe that in the 
 three years (to say nothing of a shorter period) of pre- 
 Hecessary paratory study, the average pupil can gain the 
 Limitations power, SO often claimed and so often (appar- 
 "'■''■ ently) demanded, of " reading Attic prose at 
 sight." I am not convinced, however, that this power 
 or ability is the ultimate test of the value of the study. 
 What this study can do, and what this study rightly 
 applied and rightly directed ought to do, is to give a habit 
 of accuracy in reading the text ; I mean, in seeing all there 
 is of a word because all of it — prefix, root, and suffix 
 — must be taken into account in determining the exact 
 meaning it carries with it. The very strangeness of the 
 
IN TROD UCTION 
 
 223 
 
 forms will compel this searching analysis of them. That 
 carelessness in reading of our own language is all too 
 common among pupils in our schools, is a common com- 
 plaint of teachers. A lack of training in exact observa- 
 tion and in exact statement is too frequently observed 
 among men of college education, and I believe that much 
 of it is due to careless habits of youth and of school. I 
 do not wish to be understood as saying that the study 
 of Greek is the only discipline which gives, or which can 
 give, this training in accuracy, but that this training is 
 one of the results of the study rightly followed. 
 
 Another result of the study of Greek is the acquaint- 
 ance with some of the best of the world's hterature. 
 Not to press the question as to the literary Knowledge of 
 value of Xenophon's Anabasis, which is, I literature, 
 beheve, greater than is often admitted, the student in a 
 three years' course can make the acquaintance of Plato 
 in addition, or of some other prose author, and even in the 
 minimum of two years he can get a considerable amount 
 of Homer. This is no mean achievement if viewed from 
 the standpoint of the literary gain alone. But all the 
 while the drill in translating has been forcing him to 
 think on the means of expression in the two languages, 
 and by the delicate shadings in the Greek it should have 
 compelled an equally careful consideration of the expres- 
 sion of the same thought in English. 
 
 The second of the two main results attainable in the 
 school study of Greek is the ability to understand better 
 the great number of modern scientific (in the knowledge of 
 widest sense) terms in English. I think there Greek words 
 can be no difference of opinion as to the de- 
 sirability of this result. If we except the study of the 
 Law, whose vocabulary is largely English, or English 
 with Latin elements, there is not one of the learned pro- 
 fessions the vocabulary of which does not include an 
 
224 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 immense stock of words derived from the Greek, or 
 formed at least from Greek elements. But it is often 
 asserted that this knowledge can be obtained by studying 
 just enough Greek to be able to recognise these elements 
 or these words. I am inclined to doubt the efficiency of 
 this amount of study of Greek for the end proposed. I 
 doubt if the understanding of the compounds is much 
 clearer than it would be if the words were looked up in an 
 English dictionary, and their elements learned mechan- 
 ically therein. I doubt it for this reason — learning a 
 foreign word is an act of arbitrary memory, and the 
 word will in all probability be forgotten unless by see- 
 ing it frequently in reading its meaning and form have 
 become thoroughly fixed in the student's mind. It is 
 only by seeing a word many times and in various asso- 
 ciations that it becomes a familiar acquaintance. I think 
 that reading is absolutely necessary to the fixing of a 
 vocabulary. 
 
 So I think that the second of the two ends I have 
 assumed above is reached in close connection with, and 
 through the means of the first. In the fol- 
 lowing chapters I shall have constantly in 
 mind this proposition. The great aim of the study of 
 Greek in the high school is to gain the power to read 
 Greek, and to read as much Greek as can be done with 
 care in the time given to its study. In doing this many 
 lessons will be learned in related lines, ■ — in history, in art, 
 in the problems which faced the Greeks as individuals 
 and as organized in society. All of these manifestations 
 of the activity of the Greek mind are intensely interesting 
 and valuable for study, but the language in which they 
 brought so much of their thought to expression must 
 remain the primary object of attention in the school 
 period of study. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 PEONuiirciATioir 
 
 REFERENCES.! 
 
 Blass, F. The Pronunciation of Ancient Greek. Translated from the 
 third German edition by W. J. Purton. Cambridge, University Press. 
 1890. 
 
 This is the best work on the subject. It gives a history of the contro- 
 versy in modem times about the pronunciation of ancient Greek, and 
 states with sufficient fulness the evidence upon which the method now 
 generally followed in schools is based. Every teacher should have 
 access to it, and should read it carefully. The large Historical Greek 
 Grammar of Jannaris, Macmillan & Co., 1897, furnishes an elaborate 
 argument for the " Modern Greek method," but it is not a book from 
 which a teacher in the high school can derive much practical assist- 
 ance. A most instructive and valuable contribution to our knowledge of 
 certain points in the pronunciation of Greek consonants was made in 1896 
 by J. J. Hess in an article dealing with transcriptions of Egyptian words 
 in the Greek alphabet in the second century a. d. It is in Indoger- 
 manische Forschungen, vol. vi. pp. 123-135. A statement of the case for 
 the modem Greek pronunciation in Educational Review, vol. i. p. 265, 
 by G. C. Sawyer. Also in vol. iv. p. 492, by MacMuUen, and vol. v. p. 481, 
 by J. S. Blackie. A reply to these in vol. vi. p. 379, by G. M. Whicher. It 
 may safely be said that the best authorities do not accept the theories of 
 those who would have us accept the modem Greek pronunciation on the 
 ground that it represents faithfully the pronunciation of the fourth or fifth 
 century B.C. It is possible to make out a case for the modern Greek pro- 
 nunciation, but not upon that basis. See B. I. Wheeler on The Question 
 of Language-Standard in Modern Greece, American Jo0knal of Phi- 
 lology, vol. xviii. p. 19. 
 
 1 I have not attempted in these references to give anything like a 
 complete list of works on the various topics, or even always of the most 
 important. My aim has been in this, as in the rest of my work, to help 
 the teacher to the most simple and direct works bearing on this subject. 
 I have always preferred English books and articles in journals to those 
 in foreign languages when it seemed possible. 
 
 IS 
 
226 PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 H. 'W. Chandler. A Practical Introduction to Greek Accentuation. 
 Second edition. Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1881. A work of great useful- 
 ness. Gives rules for the accentuation of the various categories of words, 
 and a very large number of illustrative examples, with an index of words 
 grouped according to their terminations. 
 
 Benjamin I. 'Wheeler. Der Griechische Nominalaccent. Strassburg, 
 Triibner. 1885. A valuable study of the historical development of the 
 Greek accent. 
 
 With the first lesson in Greek, as in any language, we 
 are confronted by the question of pronunciation. It is 
 The Qnestion °f Supreme importance, and it cannot be 
 is Fimda- avoided. For pronounce we must, rightly or 
 wrongly, and it is just as easy to start in the 
 right way as in any other, while such a start saves much 
 labour later on, and makes possible an accuracy not 
 otherwise attainable.^ 
 
 Language is speech, not writing. As most of our 
 teaching is by talking to one another, so the words we 
 Speech and use must be exact in form, if we are to be 
 Writing. understood and to understand in return. The 
 ear must be trained as well as the eye. The written 
 letters and words are merely a means of making clear 
 through the medium of sight the real words, i. e. 
 sounds. It is all important, then, that these real words 
 should have a fixed relation to their eye symbols, the 
 written words. In Greek this relation is a simpler one 
 than in English, for, excepting the varying quantity of 
 the sounds denoted by a t u, each sound has one written 
 symbol and one only. Conversely each written symbol 
 denotes only one sound. In English the sound is often 
 no clew to the spelling, and the reducing of unaccented 
 
 1 Some excellent observations on the necessity of a correct habit in 
 pronunciation and of the early forming of that habit may be seen in The 
 School Review for February, igoo, on page 88. They are contained in 
 a report to the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the 
 Southern States of a committee on Programme of Studies, and are by 
 Chancellor J. H. Kirkland of Vanderbilt Universitv. 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 227 
 
 vowels to a uniform value makes it much more difficult 
 to keep ear symbol and eye symbol correlated in mem- 
 ory. For instance, a spelling of the Greek word o-T/aarijyo? 
 as (TTparv^o^, lately noticed by me, gives clear proof of 
 failure in pronouncing to distinguish 17 and i when not 
 accented. This is common enough in English, as maybe 
 seen in such words as teachable and visible, whose middle 
 syllable is sounded like the u in but. For Greek, as for 
 Latin, however, it is entirely wrong. If one of the results 
 of the study of Greek is to train the eye in accurate ob- 
 servation in reading, it ought to do as much for the ear 
 in the real reading, i. e. speaking. , 
 
 Language is constantly changing. Our own language 
 shares this principle of change in common Constant 
 with all others, ancient and modern. This change in 
 change, though constant, is so gradual that ^*"^^** 
 we usually fail to take note of the minute variations, and 
 it is not until in a given word, or in a group of words, the 
 difference in sound has become so marked that we are 
 struck by it, that we speak of a difference in dialect. 
 For instance, think of the varying pronunciation in 
 English of the word bath. Between the extremes bawth 
 and baath lie a large number of actual sounds given the 
 word in various parts of the country. Denoting one of 
 the sounds above indicated by a and the other by z, it 
 is evident that we may have a large number of inter- 
 mediate sounds each of which differs from its nearest 
 related sound by a very small difference. It is only 
 the trained ear that recognises the divergence of one of 
 them from the next in the series, while the great dif- 
 ference between a and z would strike even the most 
 uneducated listener. These changes are constantly 
 going on in all living tongues, and we detect them 
 by careful attention, and by training our ears to recog- 
 nise the " correct " sounds, as we hear them spoken, 
 
228 PRONUNCIATION 
 
 and by imitating these alone. For languages no longer 
 spoken this is impossible, and so the rules for pronuncia- 
 tion have not the same degree of certainty as in the case 
 of languages now in common use. 
 
 Further, if we apply the same system of pronunciation 
 to widely separated periods of a language, it is evident 
 But not In ^^^'^ ^^ cannot be equally true for all of these 
 the Writing periods. The written symbols when once 
 fixed are hard to change. As time goes on, 
 however, they are interpreted differently, they are trans- 
 lated into different ear symbols, and so they are not 
 really the same words. For example, we spell our words 
 in English mostly as they were spelled in the sixteenth 
 century, but we know that the sounds they represent are 
 not the same sounds which they then represented ; that 
 is, the words (sounds) are not the same words now as 
 then, though the eye symbols of them are the same. 
 This eye picture of a word is like the photograph of a 
 friend taken long ago. We recognise the features as 
 those of our friend, but we know that it is not the picture 
 of the man as he now looks. 
 
 For a language, then, whose literature covers a period 
 of hundreds of years, no one system of pronunciation 
 can be right. The English of Shakspere's time did not 
 sound as we make it sound in reading his plays to-day. 
 In the case of Greek, as of Latin, we must for the sake 
 of uniformity, that we may understand one another, 
 choose the pronunciation of some one period in the 
 history of the language, and then apply this to all other 
 periods. This is the only practical solution of the 
 problem. 
 
 The pronunciation adopted for ancient Greek is that 
 Theory and believed to have been followed by the Athe- 
 Pronunci^ nians about the year 400 B. C. In practice, 
 Hon. however, this is commonly considerably 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 229 
 
 modified, with the object of getting rid of some sounds 
 which are strange to our ears, and with a view to ease in 
 actual use. It seems to me wiser to admit frankly our 
 departures from what is theoretically correct, and to de- 
 fend them on the ground of practicality, than to spend 
 too much effort in an attempt to reach the ideally per- 
 fect. I shall speak of the points in pronunciation which 
 seem to me to be the most important in teaching the 
 reading of Greek, and shall begin with the sounds of the 
 vowels. First and chiefly, I regard it of the importance of 
 utmost importance that the student should vowei values, 
 learn the vowels a e t in their " European " 
 values, and should always speak of them either by their 
 Greek names aXcjia, e ^frl\6v, iara, or by repeating the 
 sound itself, a/i, eh, ih. The sounds connected with these 
 symbols are about the same in Greek, Latin, French, and 
 German, and there is an immense practical advantage in 
 having their treatment uniform. I believe it a mistake 
 in oral spelling of Greek, or of any foreign language, to 
 use the English names for the letters. E.g., spelling 
 out to a student the letters t-i-s-i-s would undoubtedly 
 lead him to write rwrt?, but the reverse conclusion in his 
 mind as to the pronunciation of what he had written 
 could, if logical, only be false. Secondly, the sound of 
 short 0, 6 jMKpov, is important. The difficulty 
 in the pronunciation of this sound lies in 
 keeping the short quantity of the sound and at the same 
 time distinguishing it from a. In the United States 
 " short o " as in hot, lot, etc., is practically an ah} 
 
 The first of these two words, for example, does not 
 often differ from the German word hat. The older and 
 truer value of o is still heard in the speech of some 
 people, though rarely. It may be reached approximately 
 
 1 See O. F. Emerson, History of the English Language, p. 209. 
 
230 
 
 PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 by shortening the vowel sound in the word law. Thus, 
 law, lawt, lawt (= lof). This vowel sound is of very 
 frequent occurrence in Greek, and is of great importance 
 in word formation and inflection. From the start effort 
 should be made to have the student distinguish it from a. 
 Another vowel sound often not marked with sufficient 
 care is v. The grammars give its value with practical 
 unanimity. It should be given the sound of German ii, 
 French u, in all cases when it is not found as the second 
 element of a diphthong. In the diphthongs, av, ev, rjv, it 
 retains its older value of the Latin u. This is like 
 English 00 in doot, though not long in quantity. Care 
 taken in sounding this vowel at the outset will prevent 
 the formation of a habit which leads to the sounding of 
 (j)evyQ)v and 4>uycov alike as fewgone. rj is almost without 
 exception given the value of English a in ba-bel, though 
 the true sound is nearer that of a in babble. In English 
 we represent the bleating of sheep by baa. Cratinus, a 
 poet of the fifth century B. C, represented it by ^rj^rj. 
 There are two reasons based upon convenience in use 
 for giving this latter value; first, the clearer view 
 thereby gained of the shifting between rj and a in the 
 first declension; second, the avoiding of confusion with 
 the sound of the diphthong et. 
 
 The Sounds of the Diphthongs, m, av. Each vowel 
 has its own sound, and the two are combined in one 
 TheDiph- syllable: Xat/iia, as English Z?;«<3:/ aSre, as in 
 thongs. Latin aut, and like English out; et; = Eng-lish 
 
 eh-00. 1 here is no exact English equivalent 
 for this diphthong, but an effort should be made to give 
 the sound as accurately as can be, and particularly to 
 avoid pronouncing it in such a way as to make the sounds 
 of ev, ov, V all equal to English j/o?^. If this habit of con- 
 fusion is allowed, there is sure to result hopeless con- 
 founding of such forms as e<f)£vyov and e(f)vyov, Xovco and 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 23 1 
 
 Xuft), and others. r)v is not very common. The sound 
 would be something Hke English ciouch or abdout. ov 
 is monophthongal and — English 00 in boot, ei is like 
 the same letters in English et£-kt. There were two differ- 
 ent sounds represented by this diphthong. First, a true 
 diphthong in such words as \eiTra>, crreij^^ay. This ei in- 
 terchanges in word composition and inflection with 01 
 and I. E. g., XeiTra, XeXonra, \0t7r09, eXnrov ; o-Teip^o, 
 aTol'Xp';., <TTix°'>- Second, a " spurious " diphthong — 
 really not a diphthong at all — formed by the contraction 
 of two e sounds into one. E.g., e-(^t\e-e becomes i(f>i\ei. 
 The cases of ei in Greek in which it arises in this way 
 are very numerous, and justify, I think, the pronuncia- 
 tion indicated above. The phenomena of vowel contrac- 
 tion and of compensative lengthening are made plainer, 
 and the rules governing them are rendered easier of 
 comprehension and are better retained by the use of 
 this pronunciation, "e-e becomes by contraction ei" 
 (pronounced as ai in aisle) is an arbitrary statement 
 with no possible vocal illustration, but "e-e becomes 
 et " (pronounced as in eighi) is easily illustrated and 
 remembered. 
 
 The Consonants. These present fewer difficulties and 
 there are fewer points of disagreement among teachers 
 in their pronunciation. I note a few points of consonants, 
 importance. ? should not be sounded like </^ The Aspirates, 
 in adze, but like z simply, or like zd. Com- 
 pare, for example, ^k67\vat,e (for 'Adrjvacr-Se) and oIkovSe, 
 MeyapdSe. The aspirates (j), 6, %, were true aspirates ; 
 that is, they were sounded approximately as in EngHsh 
 uphold, pothook, blockhead. In their pronunciation, 
 however, they are commonly treated as spirants, and 
 are given values which they assumed much later in the 
 history of the language; that is, they are sounded 
 like English f,th{a.s in thin, not as in this, that) and, 
 
232 PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 though not so regularly, like German ch in machen. 
 I believe that this method is advisable, though it is 
 certainly not historically correct, for by it tt and </>, t 
 and 6, K and x ^-^e differentiated and distinguished, and 
 the relation between many English derivative words 
 and their Greek originals is not obscured. Compare, 
 for instance, the immense number of compounds into 
 which ^4\o? enters as a component part. In speaking 
 of the mutes and of their classification I think the terms 
 " labial," " dental," and "guttural" (or "palatal") are 
 the best. 
 
 The Accent in Pronunciation. There is still the large 
 question of the accent. Theories as to the minor prob- 
 Accent Bit- ^^"^^ of ^he Greek tones need not occupy the 
 flcnitiesin time of the teacher. Two points are, however, 
 important. The accent should be placed in 
 pronouncing where it is put in writing the words, and an 
 effort should be made to keep the true quantity of the 
 vowels. E. g., (j)i\o<; and crtro?, though both have the 
 accent on the first syllable, differ in the quantity of the 
 first vowel. o-Zto? = English se/-toss, while 0t\o9 = Eng- 
 lish fi-loss (i as in fit ) . Another frequent confusion 
 which I have noted is between such words as Spa/j-a 
 {=drah-md) and '^pdiJ.iJia (= gramma). The first syl- 
 lable is long in both of them, but in the first this length 
 is due to a long vowel, and in the second to the doubled 
 consonant. It is very hard to avoid lengthening short 
 Accent and vowels under the accent in such words as 
 Vowel KaKid, and to keep the proper quantity of the 
 
 guan . long and unaccented vowel. This word is 
 usually sounded ka-ke^-a, and not, as it should be, 
 ka-kth-ah. This habit tends to prevent the feeling for 
 the quantitative principle of Greek poetry, or to very 
 largely obscure the perception of the principle. See 
 further discussion of this point in Chapter IV. The dis- 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 233 
 
 tinction between the circumflex and the acute can be 
 illustrated in English. Compare the difference in sound 
 in the word how? If spoken as a direct question, it is 
 circumflexed. As, " Go and do this .' " " H6w?" But 
 compare " I did not tell you to do it in that way." " H6w 
 then?" Enforce the time element in speaking and in 
 reading Greek. Call attention to the speech of children, 
 which is far more musical than that of their elders. In 
 learning Greek words for the first time the accent should 
 be learned as an integral part of the word. Some 
 accent the word must have when spoken, and the right 
 one can be learned as well as a wrong one. The suffix 
 of a word is, of course, not the natural place for us to 
 put the accent, but it can be put where it belongs, and 
 should be put there from the very outset. Time spent 
 here is well expended, and is a saving of more ygi^gof 
 labour later on, and of labour which can then Practice for 
 far less easily accomplish the result aimed at 
 if it can accomplish it at all. Reading out loud, commit- 
 ting to memory short sentences and reciting them slowly, 
 and with distinct efforts to indicate the tones and the 
 quantities of each syllable, are excellent exercises. The 
 more the time that can be given to oral instruction at 
 the start, the better the results. The teacher should call 
 for the pronunciation of words by the students in various 
 ways. First, let the teacher himself pronounce the word, 
 and call upon one or more of the class to repeat it. 
 Secondly, take some simple words, and, pronouncing 
 them, have the class write them down. Gradually in- 
 crease the number of words so used until a short sentence 
 has been formed. A third modification of the exercise 
 may be made by the teacher's writing down the words 
 exactly as the student pronounces them, and then call- 
 ing attention to errors. Try to make the members of 
 the class critics of one another. Impress upon them 
 
234 
 
 PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 the necessity for a large amount of practice outside the 
 class-room. A new language with its strange sounds 
 and forms cannot be made familiar by devoting one 
 hour only per day to its study and practice. Eye and 
 ear should be trained together, and the greatest pos- 
 sible amount of practice be secured. This question of 
 acquiring a proper pronunciation involves no choice 
 between methods of further instruction, and is equally 
 important for all further instruction and study. 
 
 Enclitics and Proclitics. These are capable of receiv- 
 ing ample illustration in English where they are in con- 
 Enciids stant use. E. g. Give him the book, or give 
 
 ninstrations him the bo6k, and give him the book ; TV// me 
 and tell mi may serve to show enclitics in 
 English. Proclitics are furnished by the definite and 
 the indefinite article. The main point is to show the 
 student that what looks strange and what is described 
 by unfamiliar names and in new words is really some- 
 thing simple in its nature and a matter of every-day 
 use. 
 
 There is hardly any portion of the field of Greek 
 studies in which there is so little unity in practice as in 
 TheProntmcia- "^^ writing and speaking of Greek names, 
 tion of Proper One meets Aeschylus, Aischylos, Aischulos, 
 Aiskhulos, and with varying pronunciation, 
 Eschylus, Eeschylus, Aischulos, and possibly other varia- 
 tions. Socrates appears as Sokrates, and Aesop looks 
 strange enough as Aisopos. Aristotle appears almost 
 always in this recognised English form, but Plato meets 
 us as Flaton, and this form is spoken either Playtone or 
 Plah-tone. It is not reasonable that such confusion 
 should continue.' In defence of these strange forms it 
 
 1 A protest against the prevailing lack of uniformity in this matter 
 may be seen in the Educational Review, vol. vii. p. 495, by John M. 
 Moss. 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 235 
 
 is urged that we should reproduce the Greek word as 
 nearly as possible. This might be urged for the spell- 
 ing Klearkhos, but not for pronouncing this with the 
 accent on the second syllable, for in the Greek alphabet 
 it is KXea/3j(;o?. Nor is Klearkhos a help to the correct 
 writing of the Greek form, since x is commonly trans- 
 literated by ch. Against this way of writing 
 Greek names in Roman letters may be urged an Historic 
 that our English literature is full of such names ^°"" *" 
 
 English. 
 
 which have come to have familiar forms, and 
 that these forms may be considered as genuine English 
 words, almost as recognised translations of their Greek 
 originals. Further, it seems to me that this method is 
 rarely carried out consistently by its advocates. In fact, 
 some of them say that names which have acquired a 
 familiar form in English writers should not be changed. 
 Well, here is just the point of uncertainty, for who shall 
 say that this or that name has acquired such a form ? 
 Why should Aristotle be left untouched, but Plato 
 changed to Platonf The only defensible method to 
 my mind is that generally adopted for dictionaries of 
 biography in English, for cyclopaedias, and other works 
 of reference of a similar kind. According to this method, 
 the Greek names are written in the Latin form, and are 
 then spoken with the English sound-values of these 
 letters, but with the Roman accentuation. In actual 
 usage, some exceptions, affecting the quantity chiefly, 
 are made. The importance of this matter and the slight 
 attention given it in grammars and beginners' books 
 justify a statement of these principles here.^ 
 
 1 In but one of the Greek grammars most commonly used, and in one 
 only of beginners' books, so far as I know, is any attempt made to explain 
 these principles of transliteration. 
 
236 
 
 PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 TABLE OF EQUIVALENTS 
 Greek Alphabet Latin Alphabet 
 
 a, c, i\, I, u, <o a, e, 1, O 
 
 a.1 
 
 y 
 
 ae 
 
 i(e) 
 oe (oi) 
 au 
 eu 
 u 
 
 But -0? and -ov as endings of nouns of the second 
 declension are represented by -us and -um, and -ot, end- 
 ing of the plural of the same declension, by -i. For the 
 consonants it will be sufficient to note 
 
 « = c p = rh 
 
 f = X yy = ng 
 
 6 = th yK = nc 
 
 <^ = ph yx — '^^ 
 
 X = ch yi = nx 
 i/'=3ps 
 
 Some examples will illustrate these rules of translitera- 
 tion. 
 
 ' tiXK[U]vr], 
 
 Alcmene. 
 
 ^kB-f\vi], 
 
 Athene. 
 
 EipwTas, 
 
 Eurotas. 
 
 lEvpvSiKri, 
 
 Eurydice. 
 
 'Ep/i^s, 
 
 Hermes. 
 
 AeXra, 
 
 Delta. 
 
 nXo VTOS, 
 
 Plutus. 
 
 NtKtas, 
 
 Nicias. 
 
 NtKata, 
 
 Nicaea. 
 
 Aiytcr^os, 
 
 Aegisthus. 
 
 Atyts, 
 
 Aegis. 
 
 OiStVovs, 
 
 Oedipus. 
 
 BoiojTia, 
 
 Boeotia. 
 
 Aapctos, 
 
 Darius. 
 
 AvToXuKOS, 
 
 Autolycus. 
 
 Etp^v?/, 
 
 Irene. 
 
 Bv^avTior, 
 
 Byzantium. 
 
 At\<f>OL, 
 
 Delphi. 
 
 MiAtjto?, 
 
 Miletus. 
 
 ndvOo^, 
 
 Xanthus. 
 
 Xapuv, 
 
 Charon. 
 
 XXoiy, 
 
 Chloe. 
 
 *i;xi 
 
 Psyche. 
 
 "AyKvpa, 
 
 Ancyra. 
 
 "AyycXos, 
 
 Angelus. 
 
 Wyt 
 
 Sphinx. 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 
 
 237 
 
 Rules for the Protmnciation of the Latinized Forms. 
 These are condensed from the rules given in Walker's 
 English dictionary, and were, so far as I am 
 able to discover, first formulated by him and Rules for 
 published in 179 1. They may well claim, then, ^'^""^^ 
 to be accepted by all, as they merely formu- 
 late what was the usage of his time, because representing 
 principles which have been followed for at least one 
 hundred years, and which are well known and thoroughly 
 established. I see no hope for uniformity on any other 
 basis than this : 
 
 1. Every vowel with the accent on it at the end of a 
 syllable is pronounced, as in English, with its first long 
 open sound : thus, Philome' la, Orion, Pho'cion, Lti'cifer 
 have the accented vowels sounded exactly as in the 
 words me'tre, spi'der, no'ble, tutor. 
 
 2. Every accented vowel not ending a syllable, but 
 followed by a consonant, has the short sound, as in Eng- 
 lish : thus, Manlius, Pen'theus, Col'chis, Cur tins have 
 the short sound of the accented vowels, as in manner, 
 plenty, col'lar, curfew. 
 
 3. Every final i, though unaccented, has the long 
 open sound. 
 
 4. Every unaccented i ending a syllable not final, as 
 that in the second oi Alcibiades, is pronounced like e, as 
 if written Alcebiades. 
 
 5. The diphthongs ae and oe, ending a syllable with 
 the accent on it, are pronounced like the long Enghsh e, 
 as in Caesar, Oeta, as if written Cee'sar, Eta. They are 
 pronounced like the short e when followed by a consonant 
 in the same syllable. 
 
 6. Fis exactly under the same predicament as i. It 
 is long when ending an accented syllable as Cyrus, short 
 when joined to a consonant in the same syllable as 
 Lyc'idas; and [sometimes] long [and sometimes short] 
 
238 PRO NUNC I A TION 
 
 when ending an initial syllable not under the accent. 
 Lycur'gus is pronounced with the first syllable like lie. 
 Present usage treats all cases as long, so that I have 
 modified Walker's rule as indicated by the bracketed 
 words. 
 
 7. E final, either with or without the preceding con- 
 sonant, always forms a distinct syllable, as Penelope 
 (four-syllabled). But whenever a Greek or a Latin word 
 is anglicized into this termination by cutting off a syllable 
 of the original, it becomes then an EngHsh word, and is 
 pronounced according to our own analogy. Thus, Hecate 
 pronounced in three syllables when in Latin and in 
 the same number in the Greek word 'E/carTj, in English 
 is contracted into two. [This holds for Shakspere, but 
 is against the present usage.] Kp'^rr] has become in 
 English Crete. 1,vpdKova-ai similarly is Syracuse, while 
 Thebes and Athens have received the English plural 
 sign s. 
 
 The Consonants. 
 
 1. Cand^ are hard before consonants, and the vow- 
 els a, 0, u. They are soft before e, i, y, and the diph- 
 thongs ae and oe. 
 
 2. T, s, and c before ia, ie, ii, io, iu, -yo, and eu pre- 
 ceded by the accent, change into sh and zh. 'Ho-/o8o?, 
 Hesiodus, Hezhiod. But where the accent is on the first 
 of these two vowels, the consonant preserves its sound 
 pure. So MiXrtaS);?, Miltiades pronounced Milii'ades, 
 like satiety. 
 
 3. Ch before a vowel is like k. 
 
 4. Sche beginning a word is like sk. 
 
 5. Ph followed by a consonant is mute. ^6iS}Tt% 
 Phthiotis sounds as Thio'tis. 
 
PRONUNCIA TION 239 
 
 Rules for the English Quantity of Greek and Latin 
 Proper Names. 
 
 1. Words of two syllables, with one consonant in the 
 middle, have the long sound of the first vowel whatever 
 its quantity may be in the original: thus, 
 
 Awt?, Lysis, is pronounced Lysis, although Rnies for 
 V in the Greek is short. Similarly Charez, 5"^"^ 
 Greek 'Kdprj'i (a) ; Menon, Mevcov. 
 
 2. Words of three syllables with the accent on the 
 first, and with but one consonant after the first syllable, 
 have that syllable pronounced short, let the Greek or 
 Latin quantity be what it will. — Exception. When the 
 first syllable is followed by e or i followed by another 
 vowel, the vowel of the first syllable is long unless it be the 
 vowel i or y. Examples : TtjXe^o?, Telephus, Tel'ephus ; 
 OlSiirov;, Oedipus, Ed'ipus. Examples under the excep- 
 tion are ^opea<;, Boreas, Bo'reas ; AafxCa, Lamia, Lamia; 
 and of t and y under this condition, Nt/ct'a?, Nicias, 
 Nish'ias ; Kvhia, Lydia, Lyd'ia. 
 
 3. The general tendency is to shorten every accented 
 antepenultimate vowel or diphthong (the term antepe- 
 nultimate is used to denote any vowel preceding the pe- 
 nult of the word) unless followed in the next syllable by 
 e or i and another vowel. In this case the quantity 
 follows the exception to Rule 2. 
 
 The accent is determined by the rule for Latin words. 
 If the penult is long in words of more than and for 
 two syllables, it receives the accent. If the ^'^*"*- 
 penult is short, the accent is placed on the antepenult. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE BEGINNING WOBX. 
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 For the matters treated in this and the following chapters, the teacher 
 who commands the use of German will find many suggestions and much 
 help in various numbers of the Lehrproben und Lehrgdnge aus der Praxis 
 der Gymnasien und ReahchuUn, Halle, 1885, and still continued in 
 monthly numbers. In general, also, reference may be made to the trea- 
 tise by Dr. P. Dettweiler in Handbuch der Erziehungs und Unterrichtslehre, 
 edited by A. Baumeister, vol. iii., Munich, 1898, and to the article Grie- 
 chisches Unterricht in vol. iii. of Encyklopddisches Handbuch der Pddagogik, 
 edited by Rein, Langensalza, 1897. See also the bibliography indicated 
 on p. 8f. 
 
 Books for First Readings. 
 
 Moss, C. M. A First Greek Reader with Notes and Vocabulary. 
 Boston, AUyn & Bacon, igoo. 
 
 Colaon, E. H. Stories and Legends. A First Greek Reader, with 
 Notes, Vocabulary, and Exercises. New York, The Macmillan Com- 
 pany. 1899. 
 
 As auxiliary to the work in the earlier stages, T. D. Goodell's The 
 Greek in English is valuable. The author takes pains to point out in a 
 very clear manner the way in which Greek words and stems are used 
 in coining terms in modern English. 
 
 There are two distinct methods now represented in 
 books for beginners in Greek. One of these, and the 
 Two Methods One more generally followed at present, aims 
 now in Use. ^q present an amount of material " which can 
 be completed in two terms, and which will properly pre- 
 pare pupils for the rapid but exact reading of a book of 
 the Anabasis during the last third of the year." The 
 books written on this plan contain all the necessary 
 grammar material, and their use permits the postpone- 
 ment of the direct use of the grammar until the reading 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 24 1 
 
 of a text is begun. For this method the claim of sim- 
 plicity is made, and justly. The student is not obUged 
 to make use of more than one book at the start. It is 
 certainly simpler for him to have selected for his use 
 the portions of the grammar which he needs. In fact, 
 I think it might be said that this is but a further and 
 reasonable step in the process of reduction of amount 
 by which the " school grammar " is made from a com- 
 plete grammar of the language. Whether this simplifi- 
 cation is wise or not, is another question. If Greek 
 were the first foreign language studied, I think there 
 could be little question as to its desirability. But as a 
 matter of fact, the boy beginning Greek has already had 
 at least one year of work in Latin. In this year of study 
 he must have learned the use of a grammar, and the 
 way to get from it the help he needs in any particular 
 place. 
 
 The books of the second type involve the use of the 
 grammar from the outset. In them references are 
 made at the beginning of each lesson, or section, to the 
 portions of the grammar needed for that lesson. Each 
 lesson is furnished with a vocabulary of the words used 
 in it, and contains sentences for translation from Greek 
 into English and vice versa, much like the books of the 
 
 class first mentioned. This method has an 
 
 • 1 • • 1 1 r Value of 
 
 advantage m that it trams the student Irom knowing how 
 
 the first lesson to use the grammar, and the t»'«eti'e 
 
 ^^^ Grammar, 
 
 grammar is the book which must be con- 
 stantly in his hands during his first two or three years 
 of reading. I think this a very considerable advantage. 
 Most teachers know by experience how helpless stu- 
 dents are when in beginning the reading of a text they 
 are compelled for the first time to refer to the gram- 
 mar for rules and for paradigms. Now, if this habit of 
 referring directly to the grammar is formed at the be- 
 
 16 
 
242 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 ginning, the labour of the early lessons is not very much 
 increased. The teacher's advice and help in learning 
 the use of the grammar removes many difficulties. The 
 student gains in this way gradually and surely the famil- 
 iarity with the arrangement of material in the grammar 
 which is absolutely essential to satisfactory progress. 
 The difficulties of this plan are more numerous at first, 
 but I believe time is gained in the end. By this method, 
 too, one avoids the feeling of discouragement so often 
 brought about by the apparent " beginning all over 
 again " in grammatical study. 
 
 The choice of a method, however, is of far less impor- 
 tance than the thorough mastery of the method he is 
 
 using by any teacher. The age of the mem- 
 The Teacher q j j o 
 
 Is greater bers of a class is an important factor. The 
 
 thanaiiy number of students in a class is also of im- 
 Method. 
 
 portance, as it determmes the amount of per- 
 sonal drill which each individual can receive. 
 
 The secret of success in the first year's work in Greek 
 does not depend upon method one half so much as 
 upon the teacher. I wish to point out the matters upon 
 which I think emphasis should be laid, and whose im- 
 portance is not in any way dependent upon the method 
 followed. As regards various short cuts to a knowledge 
 of Greek, or of reading Greek, by whatever names they 
 are called, — "natural method," "inductive method," 
 " gate," etc., — I will say once for all that I have no faith 
 in them. As I have said, and as I firmly believe, the 
 teacher is greater than any method, and I willingly ad- 
 mit that in the hand of an able and thorough teacher any 
 particular method may be made to yield first-rate results. 
 I believe, however, with equal firmness that it is the indi- 
 viduality of the teacher that is the efficient factor in the 
 result, and not the virtue of the method he employs. 
 
 (a) The First Paradigms of Conjugation. The best 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 243 
 
 verb to start with is a pure verb of three syllables like 
 «e\ev(B. This is easier to pronounce than \vw, for ii 
 is not an easy sound. It affords in the first The best verb 
 aorist a better opportunity of noting the *<"^ ^^ start, 
 normal accentuation of imperative and infinitive. E.g. 
 KeXevaov and KeXevaai, are more helpful to a student 
 than Xvcrov and Xvaai. The latter suggest that all verbs 
 are accented in these forms on the penult, and further 
 that the infinitive of the first aorist (a very common 
 form) should always have the circumflex. KeXevaai 
 does not suggest this last inference, because the graphic 
 designation by the diphthong ev is less misleading. 
 The present and imperfect indicative of a few verbs and 
 their present infinitive forms (it is a mistake to postpone 
 the infinitive to a much later time) should be thoroughly 
 memorized. These forms should be analyzed both 
 orally and in writing : thus, i-Ke\evo-v, e-zeeXeue-?, i-Kekeve. 
 This should be continued until the pupil is able from 
 any stem given him to speak and write correctly the 
 forms called for. 
 
 In inflection, the dual forms of verbs and nouns are 
 best omitted altogether. The best beginners' books 
 recommend this omission now, though none omission of 
 of them, so far as I know, has taken the Dnai Forms, 
 logical and desirable step of omitting dual forms from 
 their paradigms, or of placing them after the plural 
 forms or printing them in smaller type. Diial forms are 
 not necessary for the beginner's book, nor should he be 
 given exercises containing them. When met with in 
 reading, and this will not be a frequent occurrence, 
 they can be explained by the teacher, if this is not 
 done in the notes on the passage. I doubt if the dual 
 had ever acquired a place in beginners' books were it 
 not for the fact that there are a few examples of it in 
 the opening sections of the Anabasis. 
 
244 
 
 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 It is best to add to the forms of two or three pure 
 verbs those of one or two verbs representing severally a 
 Proper se- Stem ending in a labial, a dental, and a pala- 
 queaceof tal mute. This means, in addition to KeXeva 
 New Forms. (^^aaiKevco, irta-Teuto, etc.), Tre/jiTra, XeiTreo ; ireidco, 
 ilrevha; Xeyw, (^ev^o) ; or others of similar formation. 
 The advantage gained by the introduction of these 
 mute stems lies in the fact that in forming their future 
 forms the pupil has an opportunity to see the changes 
 produced by the addition of ?. These changes are so 
 important in the inflection of both verbs and nouns that 
 they are best introduced at a very early moment. The 
 details of the development of the verb inflection — i. e., 
 how to combine the successive steps in the inflection of 
 verbs and of nouns — may well be left to individual 
 judgment, or to the method of the book in use. 
 
 There is one practice, very common indeed, which 
 seems to me a great mistake, viz., introducing the forms 
 of the perfect at an early stage in the pupil's 
 not to He progress. The student should be taught that 
 taught too the present (with the imperfect), the future, 
 and the aorist are the tenses most used. With 
 these he should be made thoroughly familiar before 
 going to any others. He should not be given the forms 
 of the perfect until he has learned that in Greek the 
 aorist is oftener than the perfect the equivalent of the 
 English perfect. The perfect tense may be, and I think 
 should be, ignored or postponed until the student has 
 become familiar with the turning of such English phrases 
 as having done, having said, having made into Greek 
 aorist forms. If the perfect be brought in too early in 
 the lessons, confusion results in the student's mind. 
 Furthermore the perfect is not so very frequent in use 
 as to justify giving it an equal place with the aorist in 
 beginners' lessons. In the first book of the Anabasis 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 245 
 
 there are not thirty occurrences of forms of the active 
 perfect, counting both first and second perfect forms. 
 Of these, too, nearly one half are from the two verbs 
 oZSa and iVny/it. 
 
 See further remarks on this subject in Chapter V. 
 
 (b) The Declension of Nouns. I regard it as settled 
 beyond dispute that the study of the declensions in Greek 
 should begin with the second, or -0, declen- Begin with 
 sion. It is simpler and presents fewer -0 Declension 
 varieties of forms. To make the difficulties connected 
 with the accents easier, the first lesson should consist of 
 paroxytones only. Both masculine and neuter anajronp 
 examples may be chosen. This will give according to 
 sufficient words for exercises, — e. g. Xo'709, 
 vo'/xo?, ySto?, <f)i\o<;, v7rvo<! ; to^ov, epryop, BevSpov. This 
 group requires no change in the place of the accent or 
 in its kind. The second group may include proparoxy- 
 tones which involve a change in the place of the accent 
 but not in the kind of accent used. Thirdly, the pro- 
 perispomena, involving change of kind of accent, but 
 not of its place ; and lastly the oxytones. I should favour 
 devoting one lesson to each group, not leaving this until 
 the principles involved are thoroughly mastered. Ad- 
 jectives may be given in connection with each group. 
 If this is done, care must be taken to mtroduce those 
 only which are identical in accentuation with the nouns 
 of that particular group. So with itttto?, ete. may be 
 given 0X1709, Kco?, jjlovo^, but not /iiKpm, etc. AppUcation of 
 With the material now in hand — the second Forms learned, 
 declension of nouns ; the present and imperfect indica- 
 tive and the present infinitive of several verbs; the 
 simpler prepositions e«, iv, ek, atrd, irpo ; the forms ^v, 
 f)(Tav, e^T), KaC, yap, /j-ev, 8e, ov — I should urge the most 
 thorough drill in forming sentences orally and in writing. 
 I would not let a pupil proceed another step until he can 
 
246 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 write these forms correctly from dictation, and can re- 
 peat them when heard by him. Each teacher will be 
 the best judge of the mastery obtained by his class, and 
 can increase the number of exercises here at will.-^ Time 
 spent here will prove to be time saved later. There is 
 scope for considerable reading with the forms of the 
 second declension alone. See, for instance, the reading 
 exercises introduced in the early lessons of Sandys' 
 First Greek Reader and Writer, or in Forman's First 
 Greek Book. 
 
 Three groups are necessary in taking up the first de- 
 clension : I. stems in a; 2. stems in -77 ; 3. stems in a. 
 ^^ The all-important rule is the following : a is 
 of First retained in the case terminations throughout 
 
 ec ens on. ^^ singular if preceded in the nominative by 
 e, t, p, and in the accusative singular if the accent of the 
 nominative shows that the a is short in quantity. See 
 the statements and examples in the grammars. The ex- 
 ceptions may' be neglected at this stage. Contract 
 nouns of declensions one and two I should postpone to 
 a later time. Feminine nouns of the second declension 
 and masculine nouns of the first declension should 
 come next, and then a halt in studying noun declension 
 until the present middle and the future and first aorist 
 active of verbs have been thoroughly mastered and 
 made the subjects for much practice in writing and in 
 speaking. 
 
 At this point the inflection and use of 6'?, outo?, e/cetKO?, 
 
 and avT6<i with perhaps oh^ should be taken 
 Demonstra- ,,,.., 
 
 tivePro- up and made the basis of drill as with nouns. 
 
 nouns. -phe subsequent order followed in the de- 
 
 velopment of forms may very well be left to in- 
 
 1 " An Experiment in Greek Teaching," by Mary Whiton Calkins, 
 Educational Review, vol. vii. p. 80, may prove suggestive to teachers 
 who wish to introduce something in the way of drill in pronunciation and 
 ■'n knowledge of a vocabulary. 
 
THB BEGINNING WORK 
 
 247 
 
 dividual judgment. I think the battle will have been 
 won at this point, if absolute thoroughness has been 
 maintained. 
 
 (c) The Development of Syntax. The main thing to 
 be kept in mind is the securing of familiarity with the 
 most frequently used forms of expression, importance 
 What these are in the earlier weeks of reading »* Knowledge 
 will naturally depend upon the author or andConunon 
 work chosen for the first reading. In our usage, 
 schools this is now, almost without exception, Xenophon's 
 Anabasis. A most valuable help to the most important 
 facts of syntax in the Anabasis is a book by Artur 
 Joost, entitled Was ergiebt sick atis dem Sprachgebraucli 
 Xenophons in der Anabasis fur die Behandlung der 
 griechischen Syntax in der Schule f Berlin, 1892. In 
 connection with the book should be considered Profes- 
 sor Gildersleeve's review of it in the America?! yotirnal 
 of Philology. I quote here from Joost's conclusions on 
 some of the weightier matters, pages 337 ff. : 
 
 "The following constructions must be taken up at 
 an early time and constantly discussed and practised. 
 
 " I. In declension the placing of attributive phrases 
 between the article and the noun, or after the noun with 
 repetition of the article ; the possessive and partitive 
 genitive (o roO (piXov vi6<;, ol ayadol twv avOpairaiv, tmv 
 ffo^ibv tk). The prepositions ck, iv, etV, ervv, evri' with 
 the accusative, tt/jo? with accusative in local use, Slo. 
 with genitive of place, Kara with accusative of place, 
 TrejOt with genitive and equal to about, concerning, Trapd 
 with genitive, a-n-o of place, Sid with accusative, iirl with 
 accusative of person to indicate hostile purpose, against. 
 The dative of the agent, the dative with elvai or jLyve- 
 aOai of possession. The dative of manner, of time, of 
 cause, with verbs compounded with o-w. The ' accusa- 
 tive of extent of time or space,' the accusative of refer- 
 
248 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 ence (limitation), double accusative with verbs of making, 
 etc. The use of the article for the possessive pronoun. 
 The omission of the article with the noun in the predi- 
 cate. Such uses of the adjective as or^aQov ti, ovSev 
 KaXov. 
 
 " 2. In treating of pronouns the syntax of the relative 
 must receive early and particular attention, in its ordi- 
 nary use as relative and also as introducing indirect in- 
 terrogative sentences. Further the use of the article 
 as pronoun, and with modifying genitive, and in other 
 phrases without a noun added. 
 
 " 3. In verb syntax, the passive construction with 
 VTTO and the genitive must be illustrated early, el in 
 simple (logical) conditions, eirei and eTretSij with imper- 
 fect and aorist indicative are very important, and equally 
 so Sare with the indicative, and on and eTret used in 
 causal clauses. Attention must be paid to the subjunc- 
 tive with edv ('rjv), and with ottco?, 'iva, 0)9. The optative 
 uses of most importance are those of indirect statement, 
 in indirect question and the potential use with av. Fur- 
 ther, the optative in final clauses after a past tense. The 
 infinitive with ecjirj is all important, and further its use with 
 Sei, Botcel, e^ea-Ti, in result clause with (oare, with Ikuvo^ 
 and similar adjectives. Attention must be given to the 
 infinitive with ^ov\ofiai, edeXco, and KsXeveo, and to the 
 future infinitive with verbs of hoping, promising, and 
 the like. The participle, first of all in the present, then 
 in the aorist, is to be carefully studied and copiously 
 illustrated by writing exercises. The following are the 
 more important uses : Participles in the nominative, 
 representing a subordinate clause, which are to be trans- 
 lated by a conjunction with finite clause, temporal and 
 causal. Participles both with and without the article 
 which represent a relative clause, and are so to be 
 translated. The object participle of indirect state- 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 249 
 
 ment with words of perception and sight, and also ort 
 clauses in the same use. The participle with TV^')(^dv(o, 
 and the future participle, with and without w?, to express 
 purpose." 
 
 I wish to add or enlarge upon a few points which my 
 own experience has shown me are of great importance. 
 First of all, the essential difference in attribu- jj^^^ij^f^ 
 tive and predicate position. This should be oiword- 
 illustrated in writing and orally by such 
 phrases as at ohol rjaav fiaKpai. These words may 
 easily be extended by the addition of rij? vqaov, and then 
 ev Ty vrjcrai, as attributive limitations of the nominative. 
 I should lay special emphasis on the second type of 
 attributive phrases — i.e. a preposition with a case, oi 
 CK T^? v^aov avOpairoi — because I find so often a com- 
 plete failure on the part of the student to recognise the 
 collocation and dependence of the words in such sen- 
 tences, and consequently a failure to grasp their meaning. 
 It should be made the subject of practice from the out- 
 set. Teach the pupil to read out loud, grouping the 
 associated words closely together in his enunciation, and 
 have him write a large number of them, making all the 
 possible combinations of the words given him. The ob- 
 ject is to train his eye to take in the whole group at a 
 glance, and to pronounce it in such a way as to indicate 
 its unity in thought. The fact that an English relative 
 clause may be so expressed — the men who were in, etc. — 
 must be shown and illustrated by examples. Thucydides, 
 Book I. chapters 1 01- 103, affords, in the phrase oi ev 
 '16a>firi, or oi e« 'lOajxri'i, some good models for this. 
 
 Keeping the words already chosen for a model sen- 
 tence, this may then be extended by the B„iifli„„„p 
 
 addition of predicate adjectives connected by a Model 
 
 f ^ / c 1 r'^\>-*/ v-* Sentence. 
 
 fiev—oe ; for example, ai 0001 oXi/yai fiev rja-av, 
 
 fiaxpal Se. Then a sentence should be given with the 
 
250 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 scheme of double clauses from the start, as, t5)v a-rpari- 
 (otS)V ol fjcev KaKol Tjaav, oi 8e aryaOoC^ or oi fiev crrparr)- 
 <yol. . . . ol Se crrpaTiMTai. . . . Make as many different 
 combinations of sentences as possible to illustrate these 
 two ways of using yneV . . . Se. Note that in one of these 
 the subject is common to both clauses, while the predi- 
 cate words are contrasted. In the other there are two 
 subjects standing in a contrasted relation to each other. 
 fj,ev ... fie clauses are not necessarily mutually exclusive. 
 They are often, strictly speaking, not paratactic at all. 
 Don't be afraid of spending too much time on this point. 
 It is of the highest importance. Next come clauses with 
 yap and ovv. The meanings and the proper place in the 
 clause of these words should be carefully explained and 
 illustrated. Then let the students add clauses involving 
 their use to the model sentence. So this will grow by 
 the judicious selection of clauses to be added to it. A 
 very few sentences may be made to illustrate all the 
 more important principles of position of words in a 
 clause and of the simpler rules of syntax. To the three 
 simplest prepositions, each with one case only, may be 
 added tt/jo? with the accusative, cnro, irepl. with the geni- 
 tive, eTri'with the accusative in the meaning against, e^r) 
 with the infinitive, and also dVf, that, should be abun- 
 dantly illustrated, taking care that the oVt clause does 
 not require the optative mood. These model sentences 
 should be well fixed in the pupil's mind, and made to 
 take the place of a constant citing of grammar rules. 
 
 It is of the greatest importance that the student should 
 be made familiar with the joining of clauses in various 
 The Joining relations at a very early period in his course 
 ofcianses. j^ Greek. The majority of beginners' books 
 do not pay sufficient attention to this matter, and the 
 result is that students who have had drill in detached 
 clauses alone stand helpless before a piece of connected 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 251 
 
 writing, no matter how simple it may be. This is par- 
 ticularly true of the use of Se, and of clauses with ^iteV . . . 
 Se. The latter method of joining clauses is very com- 
 mon, and I have spoken of it above. In one of the most 
 widely used of first-year books, I find that fi^iv . . . 8e', 
 is first used in the illustrative exercises of the sixteenth 
 lesson, and is there accompanied by an explanation which 
 seems to me to be inadequate to the full comprehension 
 of its value and use. That the importance of this con- 
 struction is not realized by the author, seems to me to be 
 evident from the fact that in the first twenty-six lessons 
 and reading exercises it is used eight times only. In the 
 twenty-eighth lesson, however, there is presented as an 
 exercise for reading about half a page of original Greek 
 text. In this passage there are four cases of /tei/ . . .M 
 clauses, one of which is particularly unsuitable for presen- 
 tation to a beginner, as it stands in a passage which is 
 almost universally modified by editors, because of the 
 peculiar position of the Se. The net result of this must, 
 it seems to me, be to produce confusion in the pupil's 
 mind. In another beginners' book the /ieV . . . Se arrange- 
 ment is first introduced in the sixteenth lesson, although 
 before that point a number of forms of the perfect tense, 
 rarely found in use, have been given. Here a footnote 
 to /xei/ refers the student to the vocabulary at the end 
 of the book, where the statement of its use is exceed- 
 ingly vague. In forty lessons of this book, covering one 
 hundred pages, there are fourteen sentences with the 
 /aeV . . . Be construction, and of these, two are decidedly 
 confusing instances. Taking these two books, and they 
 are not bad books by any means, as typical, it seems to 
 me evident that this very important point is not ade- 
 quately treated. This use should be constantly ex- 
 plained, illustrated, and made the basis for practice. It 
 is difficult work, at the best, to acquire a feeling for the 
 
252 
 
 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 meaning of the particles, and this result can be reached 
 only by a familiarity gained through much reading and 
 many repetitions of the words. An instructive parallel 
 is afforded by the German /a. If a boy is told that this 
 means yes, and is given sentences which illustrate this 
 meaning and use of the word alone, he must either ig- 
 nore its presence in many a sentence met with in read- 
 ing, or translate falsely. See more on this in Chapter V. 
 (d) Further Work in the Study of Forms. Nouns, 
 Third Declension. Begin with the palatal stems and 
 ooierHoiuis continue with labial and dental stems, then 
 and Verts, nasal stems. The neuter noun stems in -a (t) 
 and in -o? (-e?) may follow. Vowel stems in -i and -u 
 should be postponed to the last, as they present confus- 
 ing divergences from the normal scheme of inflection. 
 
 The development of verb forms may be carried out 
 according to individual judgment or to the method of 
 the textbook in use. I think, however, that contract 
 verbs should not be postponed too long. They may 
 well be taken up, especially those in -e'o), as soon as the 
 noun inflection calls for a knowledge of the principles of 
 contraction. For a convenient classification of verbs 
 according to their forms of conjugation, the following 
 scheme may be of assistance : 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS 
 
 A. Verbs with stems in -co. Thematic Verbs. 
 
 1. Pure verbs — Stem ends in a vowel. 
 
 a. Stems in i, u, or diphthong, not contracted. 
 
 b. Stems in o, e, o. Contract verbs. 
 
 2. Verbs with stems ending in a consonant. 
 
 a. Labial stems in tt, ^, ^. ) 
 
 b. Dental stems in t, S, &• \- Mute verbs. 
 
 c. Palatal stems in k, y, x- ^ 
 
 d. Liquid (nasal) stems in X, fi,, v, p. 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 2S3 
 
 B. Verbs in -/it. 
 
 These differ in form of inflection in the present, im- 
 perfect, and second aorist, active and middle. 
 
 Further help on the question of the second aorist 
 may be gained by noting the following list of verbs in 
 -a), otherwise regular in their inflection, which make 
 aorists of the so-called second form. 0(701, /SaWw, /cara- 
 Kaivd), avuKpa^m, Xewro), tiktco, TpeTrto, (jyevyco. This list 
 should be copied into the book in use, and gradually 
 learned. 
 
 Along with the presentation of forms will go naturally 
 the extension of syntactic uses. These are best and 
 most surely taught by means of composition Advance in 
 exercises. The principles made prominent study of 
 should be those most fundamentally important ^^*'^' 
 for reading, and each new principle should be immedi- 
 ately illustrated in reading and applied in writing. Prac- 
 tice, and practice alone, makes perfect, and makes easy 
 as well. A rule, or a set of rules learned, but not actu- 
 ally applied in use, is soon forgotten. 
 
 (e) The First Reading. The Anabasis of Xenophon 
 may be begun at the earliest moment that sufficient 
 grammatical knowledge has been obtained to -wjutto 
 make connected reading possible, or a reader read first- 
 made up of simple selections of progressive difficulty 
 may be taken up as a preparation for Xenophon. The 
 choice of method here must depend upon the kind of 
 introductory book which has been used. If it has been 
 one in which connected reading has been carried on 
 from the first, then by the time that the twenty or 
 twenty-five weeks devoted to its study have been com- 
 pleted, the pupil is quite ready to go on with the Anaba- 
 sis itself. If, on the other hand, the book has affiDrded 
 drill in reading isolated and detached sentences only. 
 
254 
 
 THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 then a book of simple prose selections is better adapted 
 to the pupil's knowledge. For reading matter ought 
 never to be so difficult that some considerable amount 
 of it cannot be covered at one exercise. Power to read 
 comes by reading. A book of easy passages helps to 
 this end. Further, it enables the teacher to proceed 
 from the simple to the complex. It postpones the more 
 difficult points in construction until the pupil has thor- 
 oughly mastered the easier ones. It affords, too, topics 
 in reading, each one of which is complete in itself This 
 IS a distinct advantage, and helps to arouse an interest 
 in the subject matter, which is scarcely to be gained if 
 an historical narrative, like the Anabasis, be broken up 
 into very small portions. 
 
 There is a third way represented in some beginners' 
 
 books which consists in introducing from the first lesson 
 
 words, phrases, and clauses taken from the 
 
 of a "Sim- Anabasis, and, as fast as it can be done, much 
 
 piified" of w^Q narrative of the first book, with what 
 
 A]ia1}asis. 
 
 changes in the way of simplification are 
 
 needed. For this method it is claimed that much of 
 the reading of the Anabasis is anticipated and accom- 
 plished in connection with the grammar lessons. This 
 is certainly true in part, but I believe only in part. 
 Sentences must often be changed from their original 
 form and connection to avoid constructions not yet 
 learned. All stylistic effect is thus lost, and much 
 of the real syntax. To gain a real knowledge of the 
 story as told by Xenophon, much, if not all, must be 
 read over again, and this could be only with dimin- 
 ished interest. I shall leave it to the judgment of 
 the teacher who wishes to form an opinion on this point 
 after presenting a passage of Xenophon {Anabasis, 
 I. 7, 4), and the same as modified for use in a beginners' 
 book. 
 
THE BEGINNING WORK 
 
 255 
 
 OTTdJS Sc Kai ei8^T£ eis otoi' ep^eude aySiva CjuSs ctSois StSa^to. to 
 /A£i' yap jtA'^Sos ■ttoXii kol Kpavy^ ■ttoWtJ cTrtacrti/ • av Sk TaCra 
 ava.a-)(ri(r0€, to. aAAa Kai atcr;^wecr6at /xot SoKu olovi rifi-LV yvuxrecrdi 
 Toiis CI' T^ X'^Pf "•'■'■"S dv^ptoTTovs. v/iSv 8i dvSpSv ovTo)!' Ktti €1) tZv 
 ifii^v yevoju.ei'wv, eyu) v^aiv rbv /jLev oiKaSe fiovKofievov airiivaL rots 
 oiKOi ^rjXwTOV iroi^o-o) direX^Erv, iroAAoi?s Si oi/iai irot^o-etv to. Trap 
 i/jiol ekiadai, avri rStv olkol. 
 
 As " simplified," or " adapted," this reads as follows : 
 
 'Eyi) Se CIS olov epxeorOe dyGva vip,as StSafo). to fiiv yap ttX^Oo^ 
 Twv ^ap^aptov iroKv eori Ktu Kpavyy TroWij iTrtp\0VTai ' av oe 
 Tavra avda^rjO-Oe, to. oAAa al<r)(ovo/xaL oIol fjiuv oi £v Tjj X'^P?' *"'■"' 
 avdpumoi. iav Se TJ/Aeis avSpes rfrt Kai cu to. e/io, yevjjrat, eyiu C/tGv 
 Tov /Acv oticaSe /3ovX.6[ii,evov aTreXOfiv ^rjhuTOV iroDjcrtt) TOts otKoi, 
 iroAAous Se oijuai Paukria-eaOai irap Ifioi fifvuv. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 XENOPHON AND OTHEK PEOSB 'WKITEES — THE 
 GKEEK NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Kehdantz, C. Xenophon's Anabasis, sixth edition, by Dr. Otto 
 Carnuth. Berlin, Weidmann. This is the edition of the Anabasis of 
 fundamental importance for the grammatical study of the work. It con- 
 tains notes in German on all of the uses of the various parts of speech 
 as illustrated in the text, with many cross references to other passages. 
 Its great lack is an index of words and of passages. The book should 
 be in the hands of every teacher who can use German. 
 
 Pretor, Alfred. The Anabasis of Xenophon with English notes. 
 Two vols. I. Text. II. Notes and Indices. Cambridge, The Univer- 
 sity Press. An excellent edition of the entire work with English notes. 
 
 "White, John T. Grammar School Texts. Xenophon's Anabasis. 
 Each Book separately, with a vocabulary to each. Very convenient for 
 supplementary reading, or for the reading of a small amount of the 
 Anabasis. London and New York, Longmans, Green & Co. 
 
 Kolfe, A. a. The Fifth Book of Xenophon's Anabasis with notes 
 and vocabulary. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1897. 
 
 "White, J. "W., and Morgan M. H. An Illustrated Dictionary to 
 Xenophon's Anabasis. Boston, Ginn & Co. An excellent and val- 
 uable work. 
 
 Blake, E. "W. The Hellenica of Xenophon, Books I. and II. Boston, 
 AUyn & Bacon, 1894. 
 
 Gleason, C. "W. The Cyropaedia of Xenophon Abridged for Schools. 
 New York, American Book Company, 1897. 
 
 PhiUpots and Jerram. Easy Selections from Xenophon. Parts of 
 the Anabasis. The earlier pieces are " simplified." Oxford, The Clar- 
 endon Press. Same authors. Selections adapted from Xenophon. 
 Passages from the Hellenica. Same publishers. 
 
 For the various questions of syntax, the discussions scattered through 
 the volumes of the American Journal of Philology, now in its 
 twentieth year. Many of these discussions are by the editor. Professor 
 B. L. Gildersleeve, himself, and most of the rest by his associates or 
 pupils. A full list of books may be found in the edition of the first four 
 books of the Anabasis by F. W. Kelsey, published by Allyn & Bacon, 
 Boston. 
 
PROSE WRITERS 257 
 
 Almost without exception Xenophon's Anabasis of 
 Cyrus is the first piece of Hterature taken up by the 
 student of Greek. Therefore, while much of The First 
 his work must be directed towards the extend- Literature, 
 ing of his grammatical knowledge, there is a natural de- 
 sire on his part to reap some fruit from the labour of the 
 previous months, and a feeling that the time for such 
 reaping has arrived. The reading of this work then 
 should mean something more than a continuation of 
 grammar work. It should bring some pleasure in a 
 feeling of power gained, and in a consciousness of 
 ability to get at the subject matter and to reach the 
 thought contained in the words. To meet this reason- 
 able wish the reading must not proceed at too slow a 
 pace. If the introductory work has been well and truly 
 done, a rate of advance in the reading now will be pos- 
 sible which will keep the student interested in the story 
 being told and in its development. 
 
 The hour, or even, in many cases, shorter time, of the 
 daily recitation affords a very inadequate opportunity 
 for the treatment of the many points of in- 
 terest which, are sure to arise each day. The the Redtation 
 great problem, as I see the state of the case, '"^' 
 is, " What shall be done in the recitation period and what 
 shall be left untouched? " It is manifestly impossible to 
 do all that the teacher sees to be done, or anywhere near 
 all. The question is one of selection. I shall attempt 
 to make some suggestions as direct and as specific as 
 possible. 
 
 First. The recitation hour should not be made an 
 hour for a daily examination alone. The teacher ought 
 not to spend these few and precious moments teaching 
 entirely in questioning the pupils about things is not Exam- 
 learned at home, or even those explained '™^" 
 previously in the classroom. To devote all the time to 
 
 '7 
 
258 PROSE WRITERS 
 
 this means to lose the finest opportunity for instruction, 
 in the best sense of the word. Something in the nature 
 of examination is necessary. But with earnest students 
 the result sought — to know how well they understand 
 matters previously studied, or how thorough has been 
 their home preparation — can be reached by inviting 
 them to ask questions on all points not understood. 
 Individual difficulties thus presented will in most cases 
 cover all the more difficult points, and the students are 
 spared the tiresome exercise of listening to statements 
 of what they know. 
 
 Second. Parsing, as commonly understood, should 
 be reduced to a minimum. It is, if at all prolonged, a 
 "Parsing" dreary exercise, and when applied to sen- 
 kiiis Interest, tences which have been already analyzed and 
 whose meaning has already been discovered, it is certainly 
 a hysteron-proteron. Nothing so surely takes the life out 
 of the exercise, and the interest in the work out of the 
 pupils, and specially out of the brightest and quickest of 
 them. Some explanation in class of forms and of syntac- 
 tic problems there must be, but it should be confined to 
 those that have proved difficult for the class, that have 
 not been mastered by private study, or that have been 
 brought out by a faulty or inadequate translation. The 
 
 student must be made to feel that the recita- 
 Recitatlon . . . . 
 
 must lie an tion hour IS a time m which progress is made. 
 
 ^ur of 5q much by way of caution. Positively I sug- 
 
 gest the following method : The first lesson 
 to be read is taken up in class at the first exercise in the 
 subject, and before any attempt at preparation has been 
 made by the pupils themselves. The teacher should point 
 out the more difficult forms and constructions, showing 
 those which have been already met with and those which 
 are new. In particular it is important to point out that 
 any roots already known may be found in words that 
 are new. 
 
PROSE WRITERS 259 
 
 To illustrate what I mean I will take examples from 
 the opening sections of the Anabasis. ■qcrOevei. The 
 form is in the imperfect Why? The accent 
 (compare icjiiXeo) shows that. Hence it has ^^^f^' 
 at the beginning an augmented vowel. This Anabasis as 
 vowel may be a, as m rjyov from ayw, or e, as 
 in 'qdeXov from eOeXco. This suggests iadeveco or aaOeveas. 
 Possibly aa-dev7]<} or a6evo<! has been already learned. If 
 not, (rOevo<; may be written on the blackboard, and the 
 others derived from it, and the English derivatives ca/- 
 listhenics and asthenic may be pressed into service by 
 way of fixing the meaning of the root word. virmirTeve 
 should be first analyzed, and then the meaning of the 
 prefix explained and illustrated by the Latin su(Jf)spicio. 
 irapoav irvy^ave needs careful explanation, if not already 
 familiar. In Greek the participle contains the leading 
 or chief idea of the expression and the verb the subor- 
 dinate thought. In English the expression is constructed 
 in the reverse way. The uses of the tenses of the verb 
 and of the supplementary participle should be explained, 
 model sentences framed to illustrate them, and exercises, 
 oral and written, based upon these principles. The 
 present participle with the present or imperfect of the 
 verb is found in three fourths of all occurrences of this 
 idiom, and should be made the basis for illustration of 
 it. The uses of the connecting ^ev . . . 8e should be dis- 
 cussed. The first /iev . . .Se are correlatives without any 
 strong opposition implied ; the second Se is connective 
 and nearer in meaning to and than to but. Then again 
 fiev . . .Se almost, but not quite, as in the first case. Then 
 Kai, emphasizing a single word and not a copulative con- 
 junction as in the first sentence, oaoi, as many as, who, 
 suggests the use of these correlatives. In connection 
 with this the tables in Goodwin's Grammar, § 429, and in 
 Hadley and Allen, § 282, should be read over and carefully 
 
26o PROSE WRITERS 
 
 explained. Special note should be made of the differ- 
 ence between outo? and rot.ovro';, between toioOto? and 
 Toaovro<i, between olo<; and oao';. The definite article and 
 its uses should receive attention. Note its omission in 
 Kao-TftjXoO TreSiov, in effect a proper name. Cf. in Eng- 
 lish Marshfield. ovv is once used, jJ^ev ovv, to sum up 
 the story to that point ; that is, it is continuative and not 
 equal to English therefore. It is once resumptive after 
 the digression koX crTpar'q'^ov he axnov . . . aOpot^ovrai. 
 As many of these points as can be should be pointed out 
 and explained by the teacher, and the passage assigned 
 for recitation on the following day. When the class 
 meets again, this portion should be translated by the 
 pupils, who should be urged to modify their renderings 
 when faulty by repeated trials until a translation has 
 been obtained which shows that the pupils have mastered, 
 first, the meanings of the words, second, their proper 
 syntactic relations in the clause, and, third, the syntactic 
 and rhetorical relation of the clauses in the period. 
 
 Special attention should be given in this connection 
 to the emphasis given words by their positions in the 
 Order of clause. For instance, in section two of the 
 
 Wordsandits passage from Anabasis, I. i, ava^aCvei,, and 
 portance. fm-^her the added emphasis of the Kai before 
 cTTpaTTj'yov, and the extending of the relative construc- 
 tion by an independent clause. Then, last of all, a care- 
 ful reading of the Greek text with special attention to 
 the pronunciation of the words so as to show their 
 mutual relations, and to bring out the meaning clearly 
 by good enunciation. There is just as much difference 
 between good reading and bad reading in Greek as in 
 English. Then repeat the process of the day before on 
 a new portion of the text. I should not advise the, 
 pupil's undertaking at first new passages of text before 
 these have been considered with the teacher. Unlearn- 
 
PROSE WRITERS 26 1 
 
 ing and relearning takes more time than learning, and 
 though the progress of the class may be slower in this 
 way for a while, I believe that through increased cer- 
 tainty the ultimate gain is considerable. 
 
 An occasional rapid review of a chapter or of some 
 larger portion of the narrative which is complete in 
 itself, is of great value in aiding the pupil to get an idea 
 of the subject matter and of the movement of the story. 
 
 It may frequently seem best not to include an entire 
 book of the Anabasis in the first reading, but omissions in 
 to make omissions. The selection of these ReadiJie- 
 must be left to the judgment of the teacher, and he will 
 be guided in making the omissions by the capacity and 
 the cleverness of the particular class in question. Some 
 classes will be able to read the first four books without 
 any omissions, while with others it may be best to omit 
 some of the more difficult portions at the first reading, 
 reserving them for study later on. In book one, a con- 
 siderable part of chapter two and much of chapter four 
 may be omitted on the first reading. Chapter six is 
 episodic, and may be postponed without interrupting the 
 story. The same is true of chapter seven. With regard 
 to chapter nine, so often viewed by students as a bug- 
 bear, I should say read it at the first time. It marks the 
 close of the first great division of the history, and Cyrus 
 does not figure in the subsequent narrative. 
 
 In book two I should recommend the omission of 
 chapter six. I do not believe that it is of an importance 
 commensurate with the difficulties it presents to the 
 student with no further preparation for it than he has 
 gained in reading the story which has preceded it. 
 Enough has not been told about the generals to make 
 these analyses of their characters of particular interest, 
 and the facts, if they are considered important, can be 
 obtained with far less labour. 
 
262 PROSE WRITERS 
 
 Two, or possibly three, books should be read in this 
 careful manner, and then the reading should be more 
 increase in rap'd- The range of discussion on topics 
 Rapidity connected with the lesson may be broadened, 
 of Reading. ^^ ^.j^^ grammatical interpretation will natur- 
 ally demand less time. This difference in treatment is 
 recognised in the plan recommended by the Committee 
 of the American Philological Association, and is a thor- 
 oughly reasonable one. No slovenly or inaccurate habits 
 in translation should be tolerated at any point in the 
 course, but correct habits ought to be fixed by this 
 time, and so a more rapid rate of progress be possible 
 without sacrifice of accuracy. The subject matter in- 
 creases in interest, in my opinion, from the beginning of 
 book three. From this point Xenophon becomes the 
 central figure of the story. His account of his joining 
 the expedition, of his dream, told at the beginning of 
 book three, and of the reorganization of the army and 
 the choice of new generals is interesting and instructive. 
 The last named shows us the army as a typical self-gov- 
 erning political community with its attendant individual 
 insubordination and independence of thought and 
 speech. The long speech of Xenophon, III. 2, 8-32, 
 may be considerably cut down in length. From this 
 point the story is full of exciting scenes and situations. 
 Book four gives much interesting information about the 
 manner of living of the tribes the Greeks met with on 
 the northward march. The terrors of a winter in the 
 highland and mountains of Armenia have never been 
 better described. The passage at the end of the first 
 chapter and the beginning of the second may be left 
 out. It is hard to understand, and the facts may easily 
 be summarized. So book four is brought to an end at 
 a fairly rapid rate, and with it comes the end of the 
 normally prescribed reading in prose of the three-year 
 course in the high school. 
 
PROSE WRITERS 
 
 263 
 
 The question arises frequently, however, " What fur- 
 ther reading is to be recommended when there is still 
 time for the purpose ? " For time there will j.,„^er 
 often be. Many classes, especially small Prose 
 classes, will finish ahead of the usual time. ^^*'"^" 
 Others will have extra time gained by taking an addi- 
 tional half-year or year for preparation for college, or 
 may find leisure because they are ahead in other studies. 
 The answers given to this question are four : First, 
 selections from one or more of the other works of 
 Xenophon, — the Hellenica or the Cyropcedia. Second, 
 something of Plato. Third, selections from Lysias, or 
 another of the Attic orators. Fourth, portions of He- 
 rodotus. In favor of some further reading in another 
 work of Xenophon, it may be said that his style has 
 been mastered, and that a wider vocabulary can be 
 obtained by the reading proposed. This may be granted 
 and still not be convincing. It is often the subject of 
 complaint that the student comes up to his college work 
 with a very limited vocabulary. Another work of Xen- 
 ophon will not materially aid in removing the ground of 
 this complaint. For the choice of the Hellenica it may 
 fairly be said that the subject matter is of importance, 
 and that some valuable knowledge of history may be 
 gained by its study. No such argument can be urged 
 for the Cyropcedia, however, nor can I think it of suffi- 
 cient importance to justify the devoting to it of precious 
 time. 
 
 That some of the easier portions of Plato may be 
 taken up with profit seems likely. I cannot speak from 
 any actual experience in school work in this , 
 
 author, but I know that, as freshmen in col- Easier 
 lege, students never fail to become interested ^*^"£"^ 
 in him. Some book of selections may be taken to fur- 
 nish the reading matter, or one of the easier dialogues 
 may be chosen. 
 
264 PROSE WRITERS 
 
 The Protagoras is admirably adapted for the first 
 readings in Plato. It can be arranged by some omis- 
 sions so as to furnish no very great difficulties. As an 
 example of Socrates' habit and manner of giving a 
 serious turn to the most trivial remarks, and of introduc- 
 ing themes of the highest importance in an unexpected 
 manner and in an unlooked for connection, it is unsur- 
 passed. Besides this there is the hve question intro- 
 duced at the beginning, " What is the end of education, 
 and what kinds of education are there? " This is a par- 
 ticularly fit theme for the last year of school work, and 
 of positive value for the man who does not go to college 
 as well as for the prospective collegian. The beautiful 
 myth of the creation of man and of the organization of 
 society is not hard reading, and it is certainly very sug- 
 gestive and stimulating to further study in this wonder- 
 ful author. Another practical advantage in the reading 
 of the Protagoras lies in the fact that the vocabulary of 
 the earlier chapters is admirably adapted for drill in 
 prose composition. Other short and easy dialogues 
 sometimes chosen are the Lysis, Menexenus, and Laches. 
 I do not myself think the Apology of Socrates is suitable 
 for the first introduction to Plato. It contains many 
 difficulties. It is a defence of a life of peculiar activity, 
 and it is better understood and more thoroughly appre- 
 ciated later in the course, when more has been learned 
 of this life and of the habits which are the subject of the 
 defence. Various other minor works proposed for the 
 purpose of additional prose reading I do not discuss, 
 because I think that the time of the student should not 
 be claimed for writings of little historical or literary 
 value. The amount of Greek he can and will read is 
 very limited at best. All save the finest should be 
 excluded from consideration. 
 
 The plan of taking something from one of the orators 
 
PROSE WRITERS 
 
 265 
 
 is not SO easily judged. There are great advantages in 
 reading from Lysias, for instance. He is a recognised 
 master of a simple and attractive style. His portions of 
 vocabulary is a valuable one, particularly for ^^ Orators, 
 further work in the orators, and much of the subject 
 matter is of great interest, as it deals with Athenian pri- 
 vate and public life. But the narratives must be sepa- 
 rated from the argumentative portions of his speeches, 
 owing to the difficulties in thought presented by the latter. 
 The two are often so interwoven that this separation is 
 almost impossible, or if made produces a text which is 
 incomplete and fragmentary. This scrappiness is an all 
 too frequent result of selections in Greek reading, and 
 should, I think, be avoided as far as possible. 
 
 The fourth plan, and the one which has the official 
 endorsement of the American Philological Association, 
 proposes Herodotus for reading in this place 
 in the course. So far as style and subject mat- 
 ter are concerned, he is an ideal author for the purpose. 
 I think, however, that the introduction of a third dialect 
 of Greek into the high school is entirely indefensible. 
 It can but add a confusing element to the student's 
 ideas and knowledge of Greek forms. The Homeric 
 dialect has diverted the student's attention from the 
 Attic, but that we suffer for the greater gain in a literary 
 way. The acquaintance with, and the ability to handle, 
 the Attic forms is too important, however, to be subjected 
 to further hazard. 
 
 If Herodotus is to be read at all in the preparatory 
 course, I should prefer to follow an English custom and 
 have the text atticised throughout. The objections to 
 this seem to me to be of less weight than the damage 
 otherwise done to the student, who is at this time trying 
 hard to attain to a certainty in the recognition of gram- 
 matical forms. 
 
266 PROSE WRITERS 
 
 Preferable to any of the plans mentioned is, in my 
 judgment, that of reading the remainder of the Anabasis, 
 More of the or, at least, large portions of it, and for these 
 Anabasis. reasons: First, the reading done, both in 
 college and in school, is, at the best, very fragmen- 
 tary. Consider the latter as commonly done. First, of 
 one author about one half of one work, the Anabasis. 
 Then, a small portion, not more than one fourth at the 
 outside, of one poem, the Iliad. This portion of the 
 poem is not sufficient to carry through to its conclusion 
 any one of the developments of the story suggested in 
 the part that is read. This is the usual acquaintance 
 with Greek literature which the- boy possesses when he 
 enters college. There again too often the same frag- 
 mentary nature of this Greek reading is continued. So 
 it does not seem to me wise to add to the school read- 
 ing another small fragment of a work like Herodotus' 
 history. Second, the entire setting of any new work 
 must be learned, while with the Anabasis and with its 
 author, who in the later books is the chief actor, the 
 students are already acquainted. Third, the subject 
 matter of Books V.-VII. of the Anabasis is of much in- 
 terest. This is especially true of Book V. Here the 
 personality of Xenophon comes out with distinctness. 
 The descriptions of the various inhabitants of the north 
 coast of Asia Minor, of their manner of living, and of 
 the life and home of Xenophon himself in later years, — 
 all this is interesting, and it is told in a language not at 
 all difficult. If less than the whole seven books of the 
 Anabasis must be the limit, I think that Book V., at 
 least, should be read. This reading can be done by the 
 student with more ease and with more rapidity than a 
 new work or a new author. Therefore it will be read, 
 I believe, with more pleasure and profit. 
 
 There will be a sense of satisfaction in the completing 
 
PROSE WRITERS 267 
 
 an entire work, and in the increasing ability to read with 
 less labour in the use of the dictionary. I add a few 
 words about the vocabulary of the fifth book ^.g^^^^ 
 oi the Anabasis . 'Keno^hovi's Anabasis, ^odk Advantages 
 v., contains about two hundred and fifty 
 words which have not been used in Books I.-IV. Thirty 
 of these are contained in one passage, a few sections in 
 length. More than one fourth of them are new prep- 
 ositional compounds of verbs already met with in the 
 earlier books. To the understanding of these the lexi- 
 con is hardly necessary, if the meanings of the preposi- 
 tions have been carefully studied. Other new words 
 are of common occurrence in Greek works to be read 
 later, and an acquaintance with them is a direct advan- 
 tage. Such words are alfia, dXcoaifia, avdOrjixa, aiTOiKo<;, 
 aa-(f)d\eia, atjtpoavvrj, ^iaio<;, yeXoiov, Sidvoia, Sikuctt'^';, 
 evSoOev, e/j,Tropo<;, evTifio<;, e^oSo^, einropia, Kaffdirep, koiXtj, 
 fiicrdocjiopd, v6cro<;, Trodev, ■jrpo^evo'i, crr-qXr}, (jjopo'i, t^oprlov, 
 y}rrj<po<;. These two classes, of which the second might 
 be extended, comprise one third of the whole number 
 of new words met with in Book V. These considera- 
 tions seem to me worth careful weighing when deciding 
 the main question of wMt nextf It may be added 
 also that this book describes the march of the Greeks 
 through a country which is at the present time of much 
 interest in many ways. 
 
 The Greek New Testament. Few, if any, schools 
 make systematic provision for instruction in the Greek 
 
 New Testament. I do not believe that it can ^ _, ^,„^ 
 
 . , . , . DeslraDility 
 
 be crowded into the curriculum, which is of instruction 
 
 now over full. But I do think that a wide- ^^^f "^ 
 
 awake teacher would often be able to get an 
 
 opportunity to spend perhaps an hour a week with his 
 
 students, and to start them in this time in the reading 
 
 of some of the easier portions of the New Testament in 
 
268 PROSE WRITERS 
 
 their original form. Once started, they could, and, I 
 believe, would, follow up the reading by themselves. If 
 this can be accomplished, there will be a double gain 
 therefrom. First, the student will gain some knowledge 
 of the Scriptures in Greek. I regard this as desirable. 
 In fact, it seems to me that the present ignorance of 
 the Greek New Testament on the part of people who 
 have had a " classical education " is little short of a dis- 
 grace. It may be said that the college is the place 
 where this branch of Greek literature should be read. 
 As a matter of fact, it is not read there to any great 
 extent, nor by any considerable number of students, even 
 in those colleges in which instruction in it is offered. 
 I venture the statement that very few, outside the num- 
 ber who may be looking forward to a course of study in 
 a theological seminary, choose this. More 's the pity ! 
 Few pieces of literature are more impressive or more 
 charming in their simple and straightforward earnest- 
 ness. But these books are more to us than literature. 
 Stripped of all theological interpretation, they present 
 the first literary message and the first history of the 
 religion professed by most of the civilized world. 
 Acquaintance with these books may be begun at an 
 early period in the student's work in Greek. I would 
 advise urging upon every student who has begun to read 
 Xenophon the purchase of a Greek New Testament. 
 Let him carry this with him to church always and follow 
 in it the reading of the Scriptures. Besides affording 
 him a knowledge of the text, this habit will assist him 
 not a little in his school work in Greek. His vocabulary 
 will be increased, and his familiarity with Greek made 
 greater. I have refrained from presenting any argu- 
 ments based on religious considerations, but I believe 
 that the careful study of the Greek text will prove su- 
 perior in moral effect to numerous homilies on the value 
 of the lessons taught therein. 
 
PROSE WRITERS 269 
 
 I add the titles of some books which will be helpful 
 in this field. The best available edition for the whole 
 of the New Testament is that of Wescott and Hort. It 
 is published by The Macmillan Company, both with and 
 without a lexicon by Hickie. The same text is to be 
 had, without lexicon, of The American Book Company, 
 New York. Both of these editions contain matter of 
 importance for the text in a supplement, which is con- 
 densed from a larger work by the same authors. 
 
 A very handy edition of the text is Novum Testa- 
 mentum Graece, edited by D. E. Nestle, Stuttgart, 1898. 
 This edition may be had of any importer of German 
 books at a small cost. It is quite a marvel of conden- 
 sation, containing marginal references and text vari- 
 ations. The typography is excellent. The type itself 
 is rather thin-faced, however. There are some good 
 maps at the end of the book, which is by far the best 
 cheap edition of the text. , 
 
 Good editions of the several books of the New Testa- 
 ment may be had in the Cambridge Greek Testament 
 for Schools and Colleges. Each volume contains the 
 Greek text, with copious notes and analyses of con- 
 tents, etc. The Gospels, Acts, and the Epistle to the 
 Romans may also be had in separate volumes in White's 
 Grammar School Texts. 
 
 The best lexicon of New Testament Greek is by Pro- 
 fessor Joseph H. Thayer (New York, The American 
 Book Co.). It is one of the most complete dictionaries 
 for the field it covers which have ever been made. 
 
 Hickie's lexicon, mentioned above, is also pubUshed 
 separately. 
 
 The best grammar of the New Testament Greek is 
 by Professor Friedrich Blass. It is to be had in Eng- 
 lish, translated by H. S. Thackeray, or in the original 
 German, Gottingen, 1896. It is not a grammar for 
 
270 
 
 PROSE WRITERS 
 
 beginners in Greek, but its use presupposes some knowl- 
 edge of classical Greek. 
 
 Burton, E. D. W. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses 
 in New Testament Greek (Chicago : The University 
 Press). An excellent book in the field it covers. 
 
 Huddilston, J. H. Essentials of New Testament 
 Greek (London and New York: Macmillan, 1895). A 
 book for beginners in Greek. Based entirely on the 
 grammar of the New Testament usage, its aim is to pro- 
 vide the shortest method for acquiring sufficient knowl- 
 edge of the language to read the New Testament in 
 Greek. It can be used without a teacher, if need be, and 
 is a thoroughly good book. It contains also a selected 
 bibliography of works on the New Testament. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 HOMEK 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 A. Language, Antiquities, Literary Questions. 
 
 Gehring, A. Index Homericus. Leipzig, 1891. Indispensable to 
 every teacher who wishes to make a first-hand study of the poems. 
 
 Sbeling, H. Editor. Lexicon Homericum. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1885. 
 The largest and most complete work. It is valuable for a library of 
 reference, but rather expensive for individual ownership. 
 
 Autenrieth, G. A Homeric Dictionary. Translated by R. P. Keep, 
 and revised by Isaac Flagg. The American Book Company, New York. 
 The most convenient small work of the kind, though not always accu- 
 rate. Its small cost places it within the reach of every teacher, and 
 evei'y student in school who intends to pursue Homer in college should 
 be urged to buy it. 
 
 Monro, D. B. A Grammar of the Homeric Dialect. Second edition. 
 Oxford, 1891. The standard grammar of the language, including forms 
 and syntax. 
 
 Jebb, K. C. Homer : An Introduction to the Iliad and the Odyssey. 
 London and Boston. An exceedingly useful book, whose purpose is 
 " to furnish, in a compact form, a general introduction to the study of 
 Homer. The four chapters into which it is divided deal respectively 
 with four aspects of the subject: (i) The general character of the 
 Homeric poems, and their place in the history of literature; (2) their 
 historical value, as illustrating an early period of Hellenic life ; (3) their 
 influence in the ancient world, and the criticism bestowed on them in 
 antiquity; (4) the modern inquiry into their origin." These are matters 
 about which every teacher of Homer should know. They are treated in 
 this work with the brilliancy and grace which are so characteristic of the 
 author's work. 
 
 Cauer, P. Grundfragen der Homerkritik. Leipzig, 1895. A good 
 presentation of the various phases of the " Homeric question " or ques- 
 tions. 
 
 Buchholz, S. Die Homerische Realien. 3 vols. Leipzig, 187 1-1885. 
 An extended and, in the main, satisfactory treatment of the "antiqui- 
 ties " of the poems. 
 
272 HOMER 
 
 Helbig, "W. Das Homerische Epos aus den Denkmalern erlautert. 
 2d ed. Leipzig, 1887. An attempt to illustrate the various descriptions 
 of clothing, armour, etc., in the poems by means of archaeological 
 material. 
 
 Reiohel, W. Ueber Homerische Waffen. Vienna, 1894. An at- 
 tempt to illustrate the descriptions of armour in Homer by means of the 
 Mycenaean remains. 
 
 Lang, Andrew. Homer and the Epic. Longmans, Green, & Co. 
 London and New York, 1893. A general discussion of the " Homeric 
 question " from a literary and conservative point of view. Lang argues 
 for the unity of authorship. 
 
 Zicaf, 'Walter. A Companion to the Iliad. Macmillan & Co. Lon- 
 don, 1892. Like the last-named work, a discussion of the Homeric 
 question. Leaf believes the Iliad is an enlargement of an earlier and 
 shorter poem. 
 
 Geddes, 'W. D. The Problem of the Homeric Poems. London, 1878. 
 In addition to a discussion of the subject, the book contains a statement 
 of the history of the discussion. 
 
 Much matter of a similar nature is to be found in some of the editions 
 named below. 
 
 B. Editions. 
 
 Monro, D. B. Homeri Opera et Reliquiae. Oxford, The Clarendon 
 Press, 1896. A beautiful text edition, on India paper, containing in one 
 octavo volume all of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Homeric Hymns. 
 It costs iJ3.50, and is a real treasure. 
 
 Christ, "W. Homeri lliadis Carmina sejuncta, discreta, emendata. 
 Prolegomenis et apparatu critico instructa. The poem is separated into 
 forty shorter songs, whose comparative age is indicated by four different 
 kinds of type in printing the text. The Prolegomena are of much value. 
 
 Leaf, W. The Iliad edited with English Notes and an Introduction. 
 2 vols. London, Macmillan & Co., 1900, 1903. A fine library edition. 
 The notes are largely critical and exegetical. The introduction to the 
 second volume contains a table of arrangement of the various books in 
 the supposed order of their composition. This table is a valuable anal- 
 ysis of the contents of the poem. 
 
 ftmeis, K. P., and Hentze, C. Homers Ihas fiir den Schulgebrauch 
 erklart. Teubner, Leipzig. The best, and it is very good indeed, edition 
 with German explanatory notes. An appendix contains detailed discus- 
 sions of particular passages, with the citation of a vast number of books 
 and pamphlets. It is published in eight different parts, each of which 
 contains three books of the poem, and to each of these there is a corre- 
 sponding part of the appendix. New editions are constantly appearing, 
 and this fact makes it one of the most valuable of aids in the study of 
 the poem. There is an edition of the Odyssey by the same editors, and 
 identical in plan and scope. 
 
HOMER 
 
 273 
 
 Henke, Oscar. Die Gedichte Homers. Part i, the Odyssey. Part 2, 
 the Iliad. A finely printed, large, clear text for German schoolboys. 
 Teachers may derive much help from the arrangement of the subject 
 matter of the poems, and in particular from the results of pedagogic 
 experience shown all through the book. Published by Teubner. 
 Leipzig. 
 
 C. Translations. 
 
 Chapman, George. 1616. A convenient edition is that of R. Hooper, 
 in Temple Classics, London, 1898. Pope, Alexander. 1720. Available 
 in many editions. Cowper, W. 1791. Bryant, 'W. C. 1871. 
 
 -■Way, A. S. 2 vols. London, 1886, 1S89. A translation into spirited 
 hexameters. 
 
 The above mentioned are verse translations. The following are prose 
 versions of merit. 
 
 Of the Iliad : Lang, Xieaf, and Myers, London, 1883, and John Purves, 
 London, 1891. 
 
 Of the Odyssey : Butcher and Ijang, London, 1882, and G. H. Pahner, 
 Boston, 1884. 
 
 The arguments for and against the study of any part 
 
 of the Homeric poems in the high school have often 
 
 been stated, and there is nothing to be gained xhe cas f 
 
 from a discussion of them. On the one side Homer in the 
 
 there is good reason for objection to the intro- ^s*" School. 
 
 duction into a short course of study in Greek of a form 
 
 of that language so different from the form which is 
 
 made the basis of grammatical description and practice 
 
 that it is almost a new tongue. On the other side, the 
 
 pleasure to the teacher and the pupil alike in the reading 
 
 of Homer must rightly be given considerable weight. 
 
 More than one teacher of Greek has said to me, " If 
 
 I could n't teach Homer, I should n't care to go on with 
 
 my classes." For the student who is going %o keep on 
 
 in a college course in Greek, it may fairly be urged 
 
 that a better acquaintance with prose writing will enable 
 
 him to read poetry with more rapidity, with greater 
 
 ease, and with a deeper appreciation. For the student 
 
 who does not go to college the school course must afford 
 
 an opportunity to get some knowledge of Homer. We 
 
274 
 
 HOMER 
 
 must accept the situation and proceed upon the theory 
 that some portion of the Iliad or the Odyssey- is to form 
 a part of the high school course in Greek. 
 
 The field of Homeric study is so vast, and the various 
 problems connected with it are so numerous, that the 
 The Problem first question the teacher must meet and 
 of Selection, answer is that of selecting what he will empha- 
 size, and of deciding what must be passed by. The 
 reasonable answer seems to me to be, first of all, the 
 poem itself. It makes no possible difference to the 
 young student beginning this reading whether the Iliad 
 is a unit or a collection of poems. He will not be 
 troubled by confusion, real or fancied, of motive, or by 
 forms which are " unhomeric." His difficulties are far 
 simpler ones than these, or others like them. His diffi- 
 culties consist in the strange forms of inflection, the novel 
 uses of syntax, the separation of the parts of compound 
 verbs, and so on. Not until he has mastered all these 
 and has read a considerable portion of the poems, should 
 problems of textual or literary criticism be suffered to 
 disturb his appreciation. Sympathetic study and inter- 
 pretation are the things which will make this, his chief 
 literary study in school, of lasting value and enjoyment. 
 
 First of all, in my judgment, comes the reading of the 
 text in an accurate and true rhythmical fashion. If 
 Reading of the the Student has already learned to read his 
 Homeric Text. Virgil 'w^ this manner, there will be no great 
 difficulty with the Homer. If not, then time enough 
 must be devoted at the start to master the rhythm of 
 the verse. The Homeric verse is easier to read than 
 the Latin. The elisions of vowels are nearly all made 
 in the text as printed, and vowels do not have to be 
 crowded out or slurred in pronunciation. Again, the 
 vowels whose signs are doubtful in quantity are fewer 
 than in Latin verse, a, t, and v are usually short. In 
 
HOMER 275 
 
 the first two hundred verses of the first book of the 
 Iliad, there are twelve cases of a (not counting inflec- 
 tional syllables) in which the accent as printed does not 
 show the quantity, or the vowel is not in the first syl- 
 lable of the verse. Of these the word XaoV furnishes 
 five, and 'AttoWwi' four. The remainder is made up 
 of dprjTijp twice, and the rare word ttoXvmkoi;. I is met 
 with under similar conditions twenty-two times, of which 
 arlixdo) furnishes four, and 6l m three, v is found eigh- 
 teen times in the two hundred lines. Of these Ov/ioi;, 
 seven times, and Xva, three times, make up more than 
 one half 
 
 A careful noting of these facts will be a great help, 
 and save much uncertainty. An examination by the 
 teacher of the passage to be read will enable him to 
 select the more important words from this point of view 
 for memorizing by his pupils and for practice in pro- 
 nunciation. The mechanical analysis of the Mechanical 
 verse will often afford much help in getting Aids in tus. 
 the quantity. As the verse is made up of dactyls and 
 spondees exclusively, — barring the final foot in the 
 verse, which may be a trochee, — it is evident that one 
 short syllable will never be found standing alone in it. 
 That is, the succession of syllables — w — (a cretic) 
 cannot occur. Further, it is equally plain that three 
 successive short syllables, w w ^, cannot occur. Two 
 long syllables must be followed by a third long. So a 
 scheme like the following may be used in determining 
 the quantity of syllables which to the eye are doubtful. 
 Let X represent the one uncertain in quantity. In the 
 combinations — x — and — w \j x,x must be equal to 
 — . In —X w and — \j x, x must be equal to v/. I 
 have found this a saving of time in discussing quantity 
 in Homeric verse. Care is necessary, however, that 
 the pupils do not get the idea that this explains the 
 
276 HOMER 
 
 cause of the quantity, and not merely the fact. Ex- 
 planations of metrical difficulties of a special nature will 
 be found in the notes to any good school edition. One 
 phenomenon of rather frequent occurrence is the short- 
 ening of a diphthong, when final in a word, before the 
 initial vowel of the following word. E.g. Iliad A 18, 
 /cat aXKoi ivicvr)ji,iZei ^K')(aLoi. Note that the at oi'A'x^Moi 
 is not so treated. 
 
 This shortening may be illustrated in English, ap- 
 proximately, by the fuller sound of the letters oj in enjoj 
 or enjoyment, for instance, than in the participle enjoying. 
 Other examples, like employ, employment, employer : cry, 
 crier, crying, will suggest themselves to the teacher or 
 even to the bright pupil. The teacher may show, too, 
 that ft) is like 00, and that in such a line as tt^v S' e^o) ov 
 \va-(o, Iliad A 29, it may be considered that the second 
 of these sounds has been elided. 
 
 When the quantity of all the syllables has been settled 
 in a verse or verses, and the proper division into feet 
 Rhytiunicai has been made, the reading aloud should be 
 Reading. thoroughly practised in perfect time. By 
 perfect time I mean | time, that is, with its unit formed 
 by a measure that has four beats and can be used as a 
 march movement. In theory nothing can be simpler 
 than this analysis, but in practice it is difficult, because 
 of the confusion caused in the application of these terms 
 of Greek metrical systems to English poetry, in which 
 the principle of rhythm is entirely different. English 
 " dactylic " verse is not in the least like Greek dactylic 
 verse. The English dactyl is represented by the same 
 signs, — w v^, but it depends entirely upon stress for its 
 effect and not upon quantity. It is really in f time. 
 The tendency on the part of English-speaking students, 
 and teachers too, to carry this method of reading into 
 the Greek hexameter is almost irresistible. But the 
 
HOMER 
 
 277 
 
 true quantitative rhythmic effect can be obtained by 
 patient practice, and especially if it be insisted upon from 
 the very beginning, so that a false habit is not formed. 
 To illustrate this method, I give a verse with the time 
 marked 
 
 11 34 I^ 34 Li 34 113 4 Li 3 4 12 3 
 
 or, in musical notation, 
 
 JJJJJJJJJJJJJJS. 
 
 It will be of assistance in learning this way of reading 
 if each syllable in the accented part of the foot be said 
 in a higher tone. This makes it easier to be certain of 
 the time given to the ictus syllable. The hardest part 
 of this method, and the point in which I have found the 
 most difficulty in practice, lies in securing the proper 
 time for the unaccented long syllable of a spondee. 
 For example, in the verse given the -Xa? of TroXXa?, the 
 -^01 of l<ji6iiJ,ov<i, and the yjrv of ■ylrvx^d';. The student 
 invariably inclines to shorten these and all similar syl- 
 lables and so to revert to f time. Reading the verses 
 while marching, or, better yet, reciting them from mem- 
 ory, is one way of improving the rendering of them. 
 Or let the class in concert recite while the teacher beats 
 time himself, or selects a leader from the class to do 
 this. 
 
 When the class has acquired the ability to divide 
 properly the verses into feet, and to read them in strictly 
 correct time, the students should be taught Reading witi 
 to bring out the meaning of the lines by care- Expression, 
 fully distinguishing and separating the words. While a 
 pupil reads, or recites the verses, let the teacher, without 
 looking at the text, try to pick out the words. In the 
 line above, the student, with his attention fixed upon 
 
278 
 
 HOMER 
 
 the feet and upon reproducing them, will probably di- 
 vide in this way : 
 
 TToXXa? I S' l^QC I /Aow "^v I yoM " Ki \ hi ivpoC \ atfrev 
 making a distinct pause at the end of each foot, and 
 none between the words themselves. Call attention to 
 the fact that there is no such word as yu.ow>/ru or %a?ai;. 
 It cannot be too often emphasized that this poetry was 
 composed for recitation, not for reading; and that it 
 was to be understood by hearing. The only way to 
 reproduce the effect and to get any adequate idea of 
 the artistic form is to imitate this process of reciting as 
 best we may. This same principle must be borne in 
 mind in discussing the cassural pause of the verse. It 
 should be an aid to the understanding of the poet's 
 meaning. Therefore what is closely joined in thought 
 should not be separated by it. Nor is it always of the 
 same weight. Compare in this respect the line given 
 with line five, or lines eight and nine with each other. 
 The very common habit of making a complete break in 
 the third foot of the verse, quite irrespective of the sense 
 required, should not be tolerated. 
 
 The interpretation of the text which has been so 
 studied, should be, on the teacher's part, a first-hand 
 Interpretation interpretation as far as possible. I would 
 of tie Text, urge the teacher, with the help of Gehring's 
 Index, to follow the uses of any given Homeric word 
 through as many passages as possible, and in this way 
 form his own idea of the precise meaning and use of the 
 word, and of the most adequate English word to replace 
 it in translating. A teacher who has done this has a 
 command of the text which cannot be obtained from the 
 vocabularies alone, and can be much more confident of 
 his knowledge and much clearer in explanation to the 
 A Typical class. Further, the students should be en- 
 Exampie. couraged to make a similar study for them- 
 
HOMER 
 
 279 
 
 selves, after they have followed their teacher through 
 the steps of the process in a few examples. I shall try- 
 to give an illustration of what I mean. 
 
 Iliad A 1 1 i-i 1 5 reads as follows : 
 
 ovveK iyo) Kovprj<; X/aua-Tjt'So? ay\a diroiva 
 
 ovK edekov Se^acr6ai, iirel ttoXv ^ovXofiat, aiiTrjv 
 
 oiKoi e')(eiv. KoX yap pa KXvTaifiVi^crTpT]'; trpo^e^ovka, 
 
 KOvptSLr}<; aX6')(ov, eVet ov eOev ecrri "x^epeiaiv, 
 
 ov Se/ias ouSe <f)vi^v, ovt ap' ^peva<; ovre tl epya. 
 
 Here the problem is to distinguish in verse 1 1 5 the 
 meanings of hifia'; and 4>^r)v. The notes in school edi- 
 tions and the vocabularies most used show a wide differ- 
 ence of interpretation. If the editions of Keep and of 
 Seymour are both represented in the class, it may happen 
 that one pupil reading according to Keep translates not 
 in figure nor in stature. Another, however, quotes 
 Seymour's note " Se/ia?, not in build. This probably 
 refers to her stature, since the Greeks always associated 
 height and beauty." ' Now this is confusing. Figure 
 and stature are not the same thing, and it is hardly pos- 
 sible that the same Greek word meant either one at 
 pleasure. If now to meet the difficulty thus presented 
 we look into other books for help, we find that Auten- 
 rieth's dictionary gives as equivalents for Seyua? frame, 
 build, and for ^vt) growth, form, physique. This is not 
 specific enough to be of much assistance. Leaf, in his 
 edition of 1886, says in his note on the passage: " The 
 distinction of Se/^a? and <^vr] is not quite clear. From 
 phrases like 8e/xa? ttv/jo'? it would seem natural to take 
 
 ^ Seymour refers further to line 167 in support of this idea, but it 
 seems to me that that particular passage, if lines 168 and 169 be read, 
 is not a good one for his purpose. Of the correctness of his statement 
 there can be no possible doubt, for Homeric times at least. 
 
28o HOMER 
 
 8e^a? as outward appearance generally ; ^vr] as growth, 
 i. e., stature. But this latter meaning belongs to Se/^a? 
 in E 801. Perhaps we may render stature and figure 
 with about the same degree of vagueness." But Leaf 
 and Bayfield, in their edition of 1895, translate neither 
 Help from tbie in favour nor stature. So there seems to be 
 Poem itself, no settled opinion as to the meaning of either 
 word. Now if, as the next step in the process, we com- 
 pare Iliad B 56-58, 
 
 QAo'i jJtOi ivvTTVLov rj\6€v'Oveipo<; 
 a/jb^poairjv 8ia vvKTa' fidXiara Se Ne'crTopt Sico 
 elSd<; re fieye66<i re ^vrjv a'^')(iaTa ewKei, 
 
 we find ^VT) used, and a third word, eiSoy, added, while 
 fieyedo<; is used in place of SeiJ,a<;. This change of word 
 is a help to the understanding of Se/xa?. Additional light 
 is thrown on the meaning of Se/Maf by I/iad E 801, 
 
 Tf Sev? Toi iJUKpb<; fiev erjV Se'fia<;, 
 
 and by Iliad T 226, 
 
 av7)p TjV^ re iJ,eya<; re, 
 e^o;^os 'Apyeicov Ke^aKriv re koL evpea<; m/jlov;. 
 
 From these passages it seems that fiiKpo'; and /xe'^a? 
 used with Seytta? indicate that the latter word refers to 
 stature. That fieyai; means tall may be seen by Iliad, 
 r 167, fiei^ove'; KecfjaXy aWoi eacri, a head taller. There 
 are two passages in the Odyssey which give us some 
 help on this point: Od. e 21 1-2 18, where Calypso says, 
 in comparing herself with Penelope : 
 
 ov ytteV 0i]v Keivrj<; ye ^(epeCmv evj(^op,ai elvai 
 ov Be/j.a'i, oiiBe (f>vijv, eTrel oinroi'; ovSe eoiicev 
 BvrjTivi adavaTTjai Be/j,a<; koI elBo'} ipl^eiv. 
 
HOMER 281 
 
 Odysseus replies to Calypso, lines 215 f: 
 
 otSa Koi atiTO? 
 iravra fidX'. ovveica, crelo Trepiippcov JIr)veK6Treia 
 elSo? UKiSvoTepr) /ueye^o? t ela-dma ISeadai ' 
 57 /lev yap /SpoTo'? ian, <rv S" addvaro<; ical ay^pav. 
 
 In these two passages we find Se/j,a<; and <|>v?? finally 
 replaced by fieye9o<; and elSo<;. These words are definite 
 enough in root and meaning to warrant the rendering 
 stature and form ox figure for them and for Se/^a? and <^vr] 
 as well. Homer has a definite picture in his mind in all of 
 his descriptions, and it will not answer to call this picture 
 " vague " because its details are not easily discovered 
 by us. 
 
 A second way, or perhaps a modification of the first- 
 mentioned method, is to follow up the derivation of the 
 word under discussion. To take a simple Help from 
 example, the meaning oiKvquk — so frequent Etymology, 
 in the compound ivKvqiJ.iSe'i — may be approximately 
 determined by the defining of Kvi]fJ.r]. Passages like 
 Iliad ^ 147, and 519, show what part of the body Kvrjfi-q 
 denotes. Further than this we cannot get from informa- 
 tion furnished by the poem. Kvrjfik is a part of the ar- 
 mour and for the icvijij,r]. Kvrnir] is part of the leg between 
 ankle and knee. Iliad H 41 shows that they were made 
 of metal. The shape must be determined, if at all, by 
 outside sources of knowledge about them. I would en- 
 courage students to make drawings to illustrate the ideas 
 they get from reading the poem itself. It is one of the 
 best tests of understanding a passage to try and express 
 in graphic form its meaning. In the same line it is an 
 excellent idea to have a pupil make an outline drawing 
 of a man's figure, and then as the various words for parts 
 of the body are met with in reading, fill them in on the 
 appropriate place of the drawing. I would advise stu- 
 
282 HOMER 
 
 dents also to make collections of the epithets used with 
 any particular word, and so to try and gain something of 
 the vision which the poet had of that person or thing 
 denoted by the word. It is this clearness of vision 
 which means everything in the power to appreciate 
 Homer. The teacher must have it, if he expects to be 
 successful in his work, and the pupils ought to gain 
 something of it if they are to enjoy the work and to get 
 real and lasting benefit from it. Now, just how far this 
 or a similar method can be used to advantage in a 
 class, must, as in so many other points, be a matter of 
 individual judgment. Something of it can be, I think, 
 tried in any class. I have confidence that this way of 
 working will prevent the danger of that deadening use 
 of a vocabulary in a purely mechanical way, and will 
 bring the students closer to the real Hving poet. I shall 
 mention the aid to interpretation gained from works of 
 art later. 
 
 The turning of the Homeric poetry is easy, if one 
 regards merely the story. The consequence is that it is 
 Translating usually badly done by students, done worse 
 of Homer. \}a_z.'a. the translating of Xenophon. Careful 
 study which gives a firm grasp on the details of the nar- 
 ration is the only preparation which can make an adequate 
 translation possible. This must be followed or accom- 
 panied by an equally careful study of the style and 
 manner of the narration. As a guide in this study I 
 think that there is nothing better, after all that has been 
 said and written, than the essays of Matthew Arnold 
 On Translating Homer. Every teacher of Homer should 
 be familiar with them, and with the conclusions therein 
 stated, and I should advise that a summary of their con- 
 tents, or the conclusions at least, be put before students 
 at an early moment in their study of Homer. Try and 
 get students to make direct use of these principles of 
 
HOMER 
 
 283 
 
 Arnold's in their own work by attempting written trans- 
 lations for themselves. These translations should be in 
 prose at first, but after some experience has been gained, 
 the student may be encouraged to make metrical ver- 
 sions. If this be tried, each verse of the Greek should 
 be expressed wherever possible by one verse in English. 
 An adequate appreciation of the rapidity of movement 
 of the Homeric verse can best be gained in this way. 
 
 One of the best helps that I have found in trying to 
 point out these characteristics of Homeric thought and 
 style consists in comparing a published Eng- comparison 
 lish version with the Greek text, and noting of English 
 the excellences and defects of the rendering. 
 This forces the student to take careful note of many 
 little points which are apt to be overlooked. This com- 
 parison of one English version with the Greek may thus 
 be extended so as to include the comparison of several 
 translations, one of which might be put into the hands 
 of each pupil. Or one may place side by side on a 
 printed sheet three or four standard English versions. 
 In using these it is well to take each sentence by itself, 
 first making as close a translation as can be done in the 
 class, and then comparing the English renderings of the 
 same sentence with the Greek and with each other. 
 This affords opportunity to judge how far one transla- 
 tor is dependent upon another for phrases. 
 
 To illustrate this method, I reproduce here four 
 English translations of Iliad A 428-487. 
 
 This passage is complete in itself, and affords oppor- 
 tunity for studying the effect of the translations in a 
 larger way, as well as for testing them in matters of 
 detail. I have chosen these translations because they 
 represent different periods in the history of translating 
 Homer into English, and because each presents well- 
 marked individual features. 
 
284 
 
 HOMER 
 
 FOUR TRANSLATIONS INTO ENGLISH OF HOMER, 
 ILIAD 431-487. 
 
 I. Chapman, 1598. 
 
 Thus, made she her remove, 
 And left wrath trying on her son, for his enforced love. 
 
 Ulysses, with the hecatomb, arrived at Chrysa's shore ; 
 And when amidst the hav'n's deep mouth, they came to use 
 
 the oar, 
 They straight strook sail, then roll'd them up, and on the 
 
 hatches threw; 
 The top-mast to the kelsine then, with halyards down 
 
 they drew ; 
 Then brought the ship to port with oars ; then forked 
 
 anchor cast; 
 And, 'gainst the violence of storm, for drifting made her fast. 
 
 All come ashore, they all expos'd the holy hecatomb 
 To angry Phoebus, and, with it, Chryseis welcom'd home ; 
 Whom to her sire, wise Ithacus, that did at th' altar stand. 
 For honour led, and, spoken thus, resign'd her to his hand: 
 " Chryses, the mighty king of men, great Agamemnon, sends 
 Thy lov'd seed by my hands to thine ; and to thy God commends 
 A hecatomb, which my charge is to sacrifice, and seek 
 Our much-sigh-mix'd ,woe his recure, invok'd by ev'ry Greek.'' 
 Thus he resign'd her, and her sire receiv'd her highly joy'd. 
 About the well-built altar, then, they orderly employ'd 
 The sacred ofE'ring, wash'd their hands, took salt cakes ; and 
 
 the priest. 
 With hands held up to heav'n, thus pray'd : " O thou that all 
 
 things seest, 
 Fautour of Chrysa, whose fair hand doth guardfuUy dispose 
 Celestial Cilia, governing in all pow'r Tenedos, 
 O hear thy priest, and as thy hand, in free grace to my pray'rs, 
 Shot fervent plague-shafts through the Greeks, now hearten 
 
 their affairs 
 
HOMER 28 s 
 
 II. Dryden, 1697. 
 
 Meantime with prosperous gales Ulysses brought 
 ■The slave, and ship with sacrifices fraught, 
 To Chrysa's port : where, entering with the tide, 
 He dropp'd his anchors, and his oars he plied. 
 Furl'd every sail, and, drawing down the mast, 
 His vessel moor'd ; and made with haulsers fast. 
 Descending on the plain, ashore they bring 
 The hecatomb to please the shooter king. 
 The dame before an altar's holy fire 
 Ulysses led ; and thus bespoke her sire. 
 
 Reverenc'd be thou, and be thy god ador'd : 
 The king of men thy daughter has restor'd ; 
 And sent by me with presents and with prayer ; 
 He recommends him to thy pious care ; 
 That Phoebus at thy suit his wrath may cease, 
 And give the penitent offenders peace. 
 
 He said, and gave her to her father's hands, 
 Who glad receiv'd her, free from servile bands. 
 This done, in order they, with sober grace. 
 Their gifts around the well-built altar place. 
 Then wash'd, and took the cakes ; while Chryses stood 
 With hands upheld, and thus invok'd his god. 
 
 God of the silver bow, whose eyes survey 
 The sacred Cilia, thou, whose awful sway, 
 Chrysa the bless'd, and Tenedos obey : 
 Now hear, as thou before my prayer hast heard, 
 Against the Grecians, and their prince, pref err'd : 
 Once thou hast honour'd, honour once again 
 Thy priest ; nor let his second vows be vain. 
 But from the afflicted host and humbled prince 
 Avert thy wrath, and cease thy pestilence. 
 Apollo heard, and, conquering his disdain, 
 Unbent his bow, and Greece respir'd again. 
 Now when the solemn rites of prayer were past, 
 
286 HOMER 
 
 I. Chapman, 1598 — Continued. 
 
 With health renew'd, and quite remove th' infection from their 
 
 blood." 
 He pray'd ; and to his pray'rs again the God propitious stood. 
 All, after pray'r, cast on salt cakes, drew back, kill'd, flay'd the 
 
 beeves. 
 Cut out and dubb'd with fat their thighs, fair dress'd with doubled 
 
 leaves, 
 And on them all the sweetbreads prick'd. The priest, with small 
 
 sere wood, 
 Did sacrifice, pour'd on red wine; by whom the young men 
 
 stood. 
 And turn'd, in five ranks, spits ; on which (the legs enough) they 
 
 eat 
 The inwards ; then in giggots cut the other fit for meat, 
 And put to fire ; which roasted well they drew. The labour done, 
 They serv'd the feast in, that fed all to satisfaction. 
 
 Desire of meat and wine thus quench'd, the youths crown'd cups 
 
 of wine 
 Drunk off, and fill'd again to all. That day was held divine, 
 And spent in paeans to the Sun, who heard with pleased ear; 
 When whose bright chariot stoop'd to sea, and twilight hid the 
 
 clear, 
 All soundly on their cables slept, ev'n till the night was worn. 
 And when the lady of the light, the rosy-finger'd Morn, 
 Rose from the hills, all fresh arose, and to the camp retir'd. 
 Apollo with a fore-right wind their swelling bark inspir'd. 
 The top-mast hoisted, milk-white sails on his round breast they 
 
 put. 
 The mizens strooted with the gale, the ship her course did cut 
 So swiftly that the parted waves against her ribs did roar : 
 Which, coming to the camp, they drew aloft the sandy shore. 
 Where, laid on stocks, each soldier kept his quarter as before. 
 
HOMER 
 
 II. Dryden, 1697 — Continued. 
 Their salted cakes on crackling flames they cast. 
 Then, turning back, the sacrifice they sped: 
 The fatted oxen slew, and flay'd the dead. 
 Chopp'd off their nervous thighs, and next prepar'd 
 To involve the lean in cauls, and mend with lard. 
 Sweetbreads and collops were with skewers prick'd 
 About the sides ; imbibing what they deck'd. 
 The priest with holy hands was seen to tine 
 The cloven wood, and pour the ruddy wine. 
 The youth approach'd the fire, and, as it burn'd. 
 On five sharp broachers rank'd, the roast they turn'd ; 
 These morsels stay'd their stomachs : then the rest 
 They cut in legs and fillets for the feast ; 
 Which drawn and serv'd, their hunger they appease 
 With savoury meat, and set their minds at ease. 
 
 Now when the rage of eating was repell'd, 
 The boys with generous wine the goblets fill'd. 
 The first libations to the gods they pour : 
 And then with songs indulge the genial hour. 
 Holy debauch ! Till day to night they bring, 
 With hymns and paeans to the bowyer king. 
 At sun-set to their ship they make return. 
 And snore secure on decks, till rosy morn. 
 
 The skies with dawning day were purpled o'er ; 
 Awak'd, with labouring oars they leave the shore. 
 The Power appeas'd, with winds suffic'd the sail, 
 The bellying canvass strutted with the gale ; 
 The waves indignant roar with surly pride, 
 And press against the sides, and beaten off divide. 
 They cut the foamy way, with force impell'd 
 Superior, till the Trojan port they held : 
 Then, hauling on the strand, their galley moor, 
 And pitch their tents along the crooked shore. 
 
 287 
 
288 HOMER 
 
 III. Pope, 1715. 
 
 The goddess spoke : the rolling waves unclose ; 
 Then down the steep she plunged from whence she rose, 
 And left him sorrowing on the lonely coast, 
 In wild resentment for the fair he lost. 
 
 In Chrysa's port now sage Ulysses rode ; 
 Beneath the deck the destined victims stow'd : 
 The sails they furl'd, they lash'd the mast aside. 
 And dropp'd their anchors, and the pinnace tied. 
 Next on the shore their hecatomb they land ; 
 Chryse'is last descending on the strand. 
 Her, thus returning from the furrow'd main, 
 Ulysses led to Phoebus' sacred fane ; 
 Where at his solemn altar, as the maid 
 He gave to Chryses, thus the hero said: 
 
 " Hail, reverend priest ! to Phoebus' awful dome 
 A suppliant I from great Atrides come : 
 Unransora'd, here receive the spotless fair ; 
 Accept the hecatomb the Greeks prepare ; 
 And may thy god who scatters darts around. 
 Atoned by sacrifice, desist to wound." 
 
 At this, the sire embraced the maid again. 
 So sadly lost, so lately sought in vain. 
 Then near the altar of the darting king, 
 Disposed in rank theii^hecatomb they bring; 
 With water purify their hands, and take 
 The sacred offering of the salted cake ; 
 While thus with arms devoutly raised in air. 
 And solemn voice, the priest directs his prayer; 
 
 " God of the silver bow, thy ear incline. 
 Whose power incircles Cilia the divine ; 
 Whose sacred eye thy Tenedos surveys. 
 And gilds fair Chrysa with distinguish'd raysl 
 If, fired to vengeance at thy priest's request. 
 Thy direful darts inflict the raging pest : 
 Once more attend I avert the wasteful woe, 
 And smile propitious, and unbend thy bow." 
 
HOMER 289 
 
 IV. COWPER, 1 791. 
 
 So saying, she went ; but him she left enraged 
 For fair Briseis sake, forced from his arms 
 By stress of power. Meantime Ulysses came 
 To Chrysa with the Hecatomb in charge. 
 Arrived within the haven deep, their sails 
 Furling, they stowed them in the bark below. 
 Then by its tackle lowering swift the mast 
 Into its crutch, they briskly push'd to land, 
 Heaved anchors out, and nioor'd the vessel fast. 
 Forth came the mariners, and trod the beach ; 
 Forth came the victims of Apollo next. 
 And, last, Chrysei's. Her Ulysses led 
 Toward the altar, gave her to the arms 
 Of her own father, and him thus address'd. 
 
 " O Chryses ! Agamemnon, King of men. 
 Hath sent thy daughter home, with whom we bring 
 An Hecatomb on all our host's behalf 
 To Phoebus, hoping to appease the God 
 By whose dread shafts the Argives now expire." 
 
 So saying, he gave her to him, who with joy 
 Received his daughter. Then, before the shrine 
 Magnificent in order due they ranged 
 The noble Hecatomb. Each laved his hands 
 And took the salted meal, and Chryses made 
 His fervent prayer with hands upraised on high. 
 
 " God of the silver bow, who with thy power 
 Encirclest Chrysa, and who reign'st supreme 
 In Tenedos, and Cilia the divine ! 
 Thou prov'dst propitious to my first request. 
 Hast honour'd me, and punished sore the Greeks ; 
 Hear yet thy servant's prayer ; take from their host 
 At once the loathsome pestilence away ! " 
 
 So Chryses prayed, whom Phoebus heard well-pleased ; 
 Then prayed the Grecians also, and with meal 
 Sprinkling the victims, their retracted necks 
 First pierced, then flay'd them; the disjointed thighs 
 19 
 
290 
 
 HOMER 
 
 III. Pope, 1715 — Continued. 
 
 So Chryses pray'd. Apollo heard his prayer: 
 And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare ; 
 Between their horns the salted barley threw, 
 And, with their heads to heaven, the victims slew: 
 The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide ; 
 The thighs, selected to the gods, divide : 
 On these, in double cauls involved with art. 
 The choicest morsels lay from every part. 
 The priest himself before his altar stands, 
 And burns the offering with his holy hands, 
 Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire ; 
 The youth with instruments surround the fire : 
 The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd, 
 Th' assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest: 
 Then spread the tables, the repast prepare ; 
 Each takes his seat, and each receives his share. 
 When now the rage of hunger was repress'd. 
 With pure libations they conclude the feast ; 
 The youths with wine the copious goblets crown'd. 
 And, pleased, dispense the flowing bowls around ; 
 With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends. 
 The pseans lengthen'd till the sun descends : 
 The Greeks, restored, the grateful notes prolong ; 
 Apollo listens, and approves the song. 
 
 'T was night; the chiefs beside their vessel lie,. 
 Till rosy morn had purpled o'er the sky : 
 Then launch, and hoist the mast : indulgent gales. 
 Supplied by Phoebus, fill the sweUing sails ; 
 The milk-white canvas bellying as they blow. 
 The parted ocean foams and roars below: 
 Above the bounding billows swift they flew, 
 Till now the Grecian camp appear'd in view. 
 Far on the beach they haul their bark to land, 
 (The crooked keel divides the yellow sand,) 
 Then part, where stretch'd along the winding bay. 
 The ships and tents in mingled prospect lay. 
 
HOMER 291 
 
 IV. CowpER, 1791 — Continued. 
 
 They, next, invested with the double caul, 
 Which with crude slices thin they overspread. 
 The priest burned incense, and libation poured 
 Large on the hissing brands, while, him beside. 
 Busy with the spit and prong, stood many a youth 
 Trained to the task. The thighs with fire consumed. 
 They gave to each his portion of the maw. 
 Then slashed the remnant, pierced it with the spits. 
 And managing with culinary skill 
 The roast, withdrew it from the spits again. 
 Their whole task thus accomplish'd, and the board 
 Set forth, they feasted, and were all sufficed. 
 When neither hunger more nor thirst remained 
 Unsatisfied, boys crown'd the beakers high 
 With wine delicious, and from right to left 
 Distributing the cups, served every guest. 
 Thenceforth the youths of the Achaian race 
 To song propitiatory gave the day, 
 PcEans to Phoebus, Archer of the skies, 
 Chaunting melodious. Pleased, Apollo heard. 
 But, when, the sun descending, darkness fell, 
 They on the beach beside their hawsers slept; 
 And, when the day-spring's daughter rosy-palm'd 
 Aurora look'd abroad, then back they steer'd 
 To the vast camp. Fair wind, and blowing fresh, 
 Apollo sent them ; quick they rear'd the mast. 
 Then spread the unsullied canvass to the gale. 
 And the wind filled it. Roared the sable flood 
 Around the bark, that ever as she went 
 Dash'd wide the brine, that scudded swift away. 
 Thus reaching soon the spacious camp of Greece, 
 Their galley they updrew sheer o'er the sands 
 From the rude surge remote, then propp'd her sides 
 With scantlings long, and sought their several tents. 
 
292 HOMER 
 
 Other passages suitable for this purpose are Iliad B 
 35-52, 84-100, 299-320. Any translations at hand may- 
 be used. I think that Bryant may well be studied ; and 
 Pope's translation, which is so generally prescribed now 
 as a part of the high school course in English, will gen- 
 erally be available. Pope's version is instructive. A 
 student will soon see where it is faulty, and, with a httle 
 help, will see just why it is faulty. I would 
 the Greek encourage translating in the order of the 
 
 Order In Greek. It will be a surprise to one who 
 
 Translating. . ^ , . . , 
 
 attempts it for the first time to see how 
 
 closely the Homeric word order may be followed, 
 
 and how good an English sentence such an order in 
 
 translating will produce. Verses 601 and following 
 
 of Iliad A may be tried as an experiment. As with 
 
 the first reading and translating of Xenophon, the 
 
 secret of ultimate success and satisfaction lies in slow 
 
 and careful work at the start. There is no other way 
 
 possible. 
 
 I have not felt it necessary to enter into details 
 concerning the learning of the forms peculiar to the 
 The Homeric Homeric poems. Most of the grammars and 
 Language. (-Jig school editions without exception give 
 enough material in the way of explanation in this field. 
 They do not, however, or most of them do not, exhibit 
 in regular paradigms the forms of declension and of 
 conjugation. 
 
 These I would encourage the student to make up for 
 himself in a note book, filling up the paradigms as the 
 forms occur in his reading. For example, the first 
 twenty-five lines of the first book of the Iliad afford 
 examples of the Homeric forms for the genitive singular 
 and the dative plural of the -0 stems ; of the genitive, 
 dative, and accusative singular of the third declension 
 nouns in -et/?. 
 
HOMER 
 
 293 
 
 The teacher may well point out that from the stand- 
 point of an analytic treatment the Homeric forms are 
 easier to understand than the Attic forms corresponding 
 to them. ;8ao-iXj)o?, for example, shows the ending of 
 the genitive singular more clearly than the Attic 
 jSacrtXea)?. 
 
 Caution should be observed in putting such questions 
 as " What is the Attic form of such and such a word? " 
 In such a case as the genitive singular ending Homeric and 
 -010 this does well enough, because it can be Attic Forms, 
 pointed out how -oto through the stages -olo, -00 passes 
 into the contracted form -ov. 
 
 But the Attic ending -ov for masculine nouns of the 
 first declension is not derived from the Homeric ending 
 -ao, or -ea>, and to ask what this form is, or what it 
 would be, in Attic serves only to create confusion as to 
 the historic relations of the forms. The same holds 
 true of the relations of the forms for the dative plural 
 in -oiai and -019. The latter is not derived from the 
 former. Neither is the Attic subjunctive ending -77 de- 
 rived from the longer Homeric form in -r/at. 
 
 The Homeric language is best treated as an independ- 
 ent form, and for its understanding and comprehension 
 there is no need of discussing its relations to other 
 forms of Greek in literary use. If comparison of forms 
 is undertaken at all, the teacher should exercise care to 
 avoid such explanations as, because of their unscientific 
 character, must be unlearned subsequently. The lan- 
 guage must be mastered to such an extent as to make 
 the subject matter clear. Further study in school 
 should be directed towards getting a firm hold on the 
 spirit of the poem, for that, after all, is the great and 
 all-important end. This feeling of and for the real 
 spirit of Homer will be the vital and permanent pos- 
 session gained from Homeric study. 
 
294 HOMER 
 
 For many, perhaps for most, teachers the question as 
 to just what parts of the Iliad ox of the Odyssey he shall 
 What For- choose for reading with his class is not an 
 tions to read, open one. The selections are fixed for him 
 in advance, either by the curriculum of the school in 
 which he is teaching, or by certain entrance require- 
 ments prescribed by some college or by an association 
 of colleges. The question is one, however, well worth 
 consideration, for upon its answer, and upon the plan 
 followed in consequence thereof, must depend in consid- 
 erable degree the success of the teaching itself. The 
 principles which should guide one in making his selec- 
 tions have been very well stated by Dr. A. Lange in 
 Lehrproben und Lehrgdnge aus der Praxis der Gymnasicu 
 und Realschulen, No. 43, p. 48. 
 
 " As it is not possible to read all of Homer, selections 
 for this purpose must be made, and they should be made 
 according to the following principles : 
 
 " I. Passages whose subject matter has a high poeti- 
 cal value, or particularly valuable ethical contents. 
 
 " II. Passages which shall fix and hold the interest of 
 the pupil. 
 
 " III. Passages which have a permanent value in 
 their relation to culture and to its history; that is, 
 which have furnished material of a permanent influence 
 in art and literature. For example, the picture of Zeus 
 in Iliad K 528 ff.: 
 
 r\ Kai Kvaverjaiv eiir 6<f>pvcn vevce K-povicov. 
 a/jL^pocTiai 8' apa 'x^alraL eireppdicravTO avaKTO<} 
 KparcK air adavdroio • fieyav S' i\e\i,^ev"0\vfi7rov. 
 
 Or that of Hermes in Odyssey e 43 ff. : 
 
 0V& aTriOrjae SidKTopo<; apyei(f)6vT7]<i. 
 avTiK eireid' viro Troacrlv iS'^aaro koKo, TreSiXa, 
 a^^poaia ■^(^pvcreia, rd fiiv <f}epov rjiJ^ev i(j)' vjprjV 
 
HOMER 
 
 295 
 
 TjV eir aireipova yaiav a/j,a irvoiy'; ave'fLoio. 
 etXero Be pd^Bov, Ty t avBpmv ofi/Mara de\yei 
 atv ideXei, toii<: B' avre icai virvaovra'; iyeipei. 
 TTjV fjL€T^ \eperlv e'yaiv veTero KparxK ap'yet(f>6vrrj';. 
 
 " IV. Each portion selected must be complete in itself. 
 
 " V. Passages should be chosen in which the chief 
 characters are active, and which show the basic fabric 
 of the poem ; that is, of the Odyssey, passages in which 
 Odysseus appears as chief figure, and of the Iliad those 
 in which Achilles is prominent. But in the Iliad there 
 are other heroes to whose deeds whole passages are 
 devoted." 
 
 These principles of selection may be applied to both 
 poems. For the Iliad, however, we must face another 
 problem, which is this: Shall we take pas- i„tiie 
 sages alone which carry forward the main ™** 
 action? Or shall we include in our selections those 
 which contain episodes not connected so directly with 
 the wrath of Achilles, the quarrel with Agamennon, and 
 the results attendant thereon ? 
 
 And further : Shall we, if we do include these episodes, 
 take them in the order in which they come in our 
 Homer, or treat them separately, as stories not directly 
 connected with the main narrative ? It is of interest to 
 see how Dr. Lange's selections from the Iliad, made on 
 the basis he advocates, turn out. I add, therefore, the 
 Iliad as he arranges it in his scheme. 
 
 The Iliad is begun in the fifth year of the study of 
 Greek, and after the Odyssey has been read during the 
 two years immediately previous. 
 
 He prescribes Book I. all, II. 1-483, III. all, IV. i- 
 250, VI. 119-529, VII. 1-312, IX. 1-523 and 600-713, 
 XI. 1-520, XII. 35-471, XV. 592-746. This makes a 
 total of 4225 verses for this year of reading. It is fol- 
 lowed in the fourth year of Homeric reading, which is 
 
296 
 
 HOMER 
 
 the sixth in Greek study and the final year of the Ger- 
 man gymnasium, by these passages of the remaining 
 books of the Iliad: XVI. all, XVII. I-236, 426-462, 
 651-761, XVIII. all, XIX. 1-2 14, 277-424, XXI. all, 
 XXII. all, XXIII. 1-261, XXIV. all. Or a total in this 
 year of 4421 verses. The amount covered in both 
 these years is 8646 verses, which is more than one half 
 of the total number of verses, 15,693, of the poem. I 
 will not go through the Odyssey in similar detailed 
 fashion, but his total number of lines there is 5414, or 
 less than one half the total number of 12,110 verses in 
 and In the the entire poem. In this scheme for the 
 Odyssey. readings in the Odyssey, Books II., III., IV , 
 XV., XVIII., XX., XXIV. are omitted altogether, and 
 79 verses only are included of Book I. This is in strik- 
 ing contrast to the latest school edition of the Odyssey 
 published in the United States, in which Books I.-IV. 
 are given entire. 
 
 Returning to the consideration of the Iliad, it will be 
 evident that the four thousand lines which our present 
 programme of reading, requires, may be so 
 rangement chosen from the poem that they will include 
 of School more of its famous parts than they do now. 
 As it is, I think the student rarely gets a 
 clear idea of the action of the poem. The first book 
 is reasonably clear. Achilles' resentment, his prayer 
 to his mother Thetis, her request of Zeus and the 
 promise of the latter, are plainly told, and there is 
 none of that bewildering confusion of motive which 
 begins almost at the start in Book II. To select from 
 the Iliad such portions as would carry out the theme 
 stated in Book I., and contain the subsequent decision 
 of Achilles, first to send Patroclus, and then, after the 
 latter's death, to enter the fight himself, the resulting 
 fight with Hector, the death and burial of Hector and 
 
HOMER 
 
 297 
 
 the ransoming of his body by Priam, — this would give a 
 complete story and include some of the most famous 
 scenes of the poem. Such a plan, the details of which 
 might be varied by any teacher according to his own 
 tastes, or as the limitations of time permit, would have 
 decided advantages over the plan of reading now fol- 
 lowed. A scheme may be worked out by the aid of 
 Leaf's arrangement in the introduction to the second 
 volume of his edition. I do not mean to say that any 
 theory of the " Homeric question " should be made the 
 basis of selection. That question is not suited for dis- 
 cussion in school, and need not be raised. It is simply 
 a question of selecting from a larger body of poetry a 
 sufficient amount for the purpose in hand. 
 
 I believe the Odyssey is the better poem with which 
 to begin the school work in Homer. The Greek is 
 easier, for one thing, and the story is plainer i^yantages 
 and presents more variety within a limited of the 
 compass of text. Books IX.-XH. may be "*^' 
 taken first, and followed up by Books V., VI., VII., VIII., 
 and a part of XIII. These books, in which large omis- 
 sions may be made according to choice, as necessity 
 may compel, give the story of the wanderings of Odys- 
 seus from Troy back to Ithaca. They are of especial 
 interest in matter and manner to students reading Vir- 
 gil's ^neid, and well suited to be studied at the same 
 time. If this plan is followed in the preparatory course, 
 the student who enters college will be able to read, with 
 his increased power, a much larger portion of the Ihad. 
 But the interests of the pupils who do not go beyond 
 the school should not be forgotten, and they may some- 
 times be made the controlling motive in choosing be- 
 tween the Iliad and the Odyssey. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 GBEEK COMPOSITION 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Sidgwick, A. Introduction to Greek Prose Composition. London, 
 Longmans; Boston, Ginn & Co. Far too difficult a book for use in 
 schools, but containing mucli explanatory matter of great value to 
 teachers. A further work by the same author is Lectures on Greek 
 Prose Composition, London and New York, Longmans. This, too, is 
 full of valuable hints and suggestions. 
 
 AUinson, F. G. Greek Prose Composition. Boston, AUyn & Bacon, 
 1890. Contains good " Notes on Idiom and Syntax, Rules for the Cases, 
 Rules for the Accent." 
 
 By common agreement in the statements of all teach- 
 ers whose experiences I have learned, this is the part of 
 Subject is not Greek instruction in school which is regarded 
 ^*^- with the least satisfaction by teachers them- 
 
 selves, and the part which gives the most meagre returns 
 for the labour it involves. Teachers and school programs 
 are apt to slight it, and students seek to shirk it as far as 
 they can. And yet it ought not to prove so uninterest- 
 ing. Composition is in its nature not unlike a problem 
 to be solved. In a way it is like a puzzle to be guessed. 
 Now, this characteristic, this containing Something to be 
 discovered, to be guessed, has always the power of 
 attracting a student's mind. But the puzzle must not be 
 too difficult. One tires soon of puzzles which he cannot 
 work out to an evident answer, or of riddles which he 
 Because itis cannot guess. At the same time the problem 
 often too must be hard enough to furnish stimulus to 
 the pupil. I believe that most of the mistakes 
 made in the teaching of Greek composition, so far as 
 
GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 299 
 
 books for that purpose go, lie, first, in making the problem 
 or problems too difficult. One passage offers often too 
 many hard points for solution. I quote as an example 
 a part of the first exercise set in a book on composition, 
 a book which has some good features. It is as follows : 
 " When, now, the Cilician queen saw the Greeks with 
 spears atilt coming on and running with shouts toward 
 the Persian camp, and saw the barbarians running away 
 in fright, she fled from her carriage in great alarm. And 
 the fear of all the barbarians was so great that even the 
 marketmen forsook their wares and ran away. Cyrus, 
 however, was much pleased when from his chariot he 
 saw the brilliant discipline of the Greeks, who ran with 
 laughter to their tents, while the barbarians feared them 
 and were fleeing from them ; for he was taking the Greeks 
 with him that he might not be forced to wage a long war 
 with the king, but that he might destroy his great power 
 in one battle." The Greek text on which this exercise is 
 based affords no example of such complex arrangement 
 of clauses as the last sentence here seems to call for. 
 The multiplication of difficulties produces at least two 
 bad results : first, a discouragement on the part of the 
 student; and secondly, a too lenient judgment on the 
 part of the teacher of the results reached by the pupil. 
 I can see no value at all in the writing of Greek unless the 
 results are to be exact and are to be measured by exact 
 standards, and by rules which are so definite that the stu- 
 dents can understand and master them. Otherwise the 
 exercise can result only in a half knowledge which will 
 reveal itself in equally lax habits in translating from Greek 
 into English. 
 
 A second cause which contributes in my judgment to 
 the lack of success so often met with in the subject 
 teaching of Greek composition is the selec- Matter, 
 tion of subject matter for the exercises in writing which is 
 
300 
 
 GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 not connected with the Greek text being read at the same 
 time. This habit brings up a new vocabulary of words, 
 rarely furnishes topics of interest, and, what is the most 
 important of all, does not afford an opportunity of com- 
 paring the exercises written by the student with the 
 original Greek text. This method is fortunately far less 
 common than formerly. 
 
 I think there is substantial agreement as to the object 
 of the work in Greek composition in the school. It is to 
 Object of " get a firmer hold on the facts of accidence, 
 Composition, ^f syntax and of idiom," to enable the 
 student to read Greek more intelligently and to translate 
 more exactly. It is, indeed, true here that " writing 
 maketh the exact man." The writing of Greek should, 
 I think, be kept up continuously from the very first 
 lesson, — a daily exercise, if possible, and at any rate, 
 not less frequently than once a week. The work ought 
 to be (i) simple, — that is, proportionate to the knowl- 
 edge already gained; (2) progressive in difficulty; 
 (3) designed to cover systematically the most important 
 parts of noun and of verb syntax; (4) be directly 
 connected in subject matter with the reading which is 
 being carried on at the same time. 
 
 When the student begins the reading of the Anabasis, 
 and has presumably written sentences in Greek in con- 
 Composition nection with the beginners' book he has been 
 whUeRead- using, he will be ready for composition work 
 somewhat more difficult and of a diffisrent 
 kind. Just what will be most needed and just what he 
 will be prepared to do, must be a matter to be settled by 
 the individual judgment of his teacher. The question 
 will require possibly a different answer for each class. 
 I think one may assume that the average student will 
 have learned by this time how to use the cases in their 
 commoner constructions, and the moods and tenses in 
 
GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 301 
 
 the less complicated forms of sentences. He must now 
 face longer sentences in his reading, and with them the 
 problem of arranging clauses in the sentence. This, 
 then, suggests the first point of importance and often of 
 difficulty. 
 
 The Articulation of Clauses. It is certainly true that 
 the Greek makes use of a greater number of particles to 
 express various relations of clauses than the importance 
 English does. And yet I do not absent to of Greek 
 the rule often given, " Always begin each 
 clause with a conjunction or particle." Sometimes the 
 reasons given by students for using this or that particle 
 have reminded me of Topsy's explanation that " she 
 must 'fess something and could n't think of anything else 
 to 'fess." ^ I should much prefer to put it in this way : 
 " Never use a particle unless you can give a reason why 
 you choose the particular one employed." This joining 
 of clauses is of the highest importance. Stylistic effect 
 is largely dependent upon it. 
 
 The best way to study the principles involved is by 
 careful study of a Greek paragraph or two. Let us 
 take Xenophon's Anabasis, I. i, 4, 5 as an Example of 
 illustration. 'O 8" eJ? airriXde KlvSwevaw; koI Articulation. 
 aTifiaadek, ^ovXeveTai k. t. X. The first question will 
 naturally be why «»? airrfKOe and not the participle 
 aireX6(ov? And this question will often arise in correct- 
 ing exercises. No fixed grammatical rule can be given. 
 The meaning would, in most cases, be nearly the same. 
 The reason lies sometimes in the general effect on the 
 sound of the sentence. Here, for instance, it can readily 
 
 1 Since writing this sentence, I have received the following answer to 
 a question, in an examination paper, concerning the use of re. "re is a 
 word thrown broadcast throughout the Greek writing and language. It 
 means nothing to us, but a great deal to the Greeks. Greek would not 
 be Greek to a Greek without it." 
 
302 GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 be seen that three participles one after the other would 
 not be euphonious, nor would the relation of the ideas 
 expressed by the different participles be easily grasped. 
 More weight is often given to a thought expressed by a 
 clause with a finite verb. Compare Anab. I. i, 7: 'O 
 Se KO/so? mroXa^wv tou? (f}evyovTa<i o-fWe'^a? aTpdTevju,a 
 i-TToXiopKei, M.l\riTov. Here the description carries us 
 rapidly forward to the besieging of Miletus. Dakyn's 
 translation, " Cyrus, on his side, welcomed these fugi- 
 tives, and having collected an army laid siege to Miletus," 
 does not move on to the main point with equal swiftness. 
 Compare further Anab. I. 2, 4 with I. 2, 5. To enable 
 the student to become familiar with both forms of ex- 
 pression, it is well to have him write both a participial 
 clause and its equivalent dependent clause with a con- 
 junction, for each English dependent clause. Then help 
 him to select the one which under the circumstances 
 seems the better in each case. The next point in this 
 Greek and sentence is the question why the order should 
 Engiisli be S' oj? aTTJjX^e, and not <»? 8' a7r?;X^e. 
 
 This difference in idiom between the English 
 and the Greek is fundamental, and, if not already learned, 
 should be copiously illustrated and explained. Further 
 points for consideration in connection with this clause 
 are: Is m the most common conjunction? Ask the 
 student to note eirei used for this purpose. Is the 
 aorist different from the imperfect? Keep a memoran- 
 dum of the uses of each. What are some of the uses of 
 «B? ? Regarding this last question on the uses of o)?, the 
 practice of Xenophon in the Anabasis, if one takes Joost's 
 figures, is not to use it extensively in temporal clauses. 
 The verbs denoting sense perception make up two 
 thirds of all occurrences. The phrase cJ? el^ov (eihev) 
 forms over one third. So, I should say, it were better 
 not to introduce this use of oJ? in practice. It is better 
 
GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 303 
 
 to give as few equivalents for an English expression or 
 word as may be enough to get along with. The next 
 clause with otto)? should be compared with the first 
 sentence of § 6, where otto)? appears as a final particle. 
 The translation how that will answer for both clauses. 
 aXKa. Point out difference in use between this word 
 and Se, and give sentences to illustrate these uses. 
 iikv hr). This /xeV has no Se corresponding to it, and the 
 fact should be noted. I. I, 5. ocrris S' a<f)iKi'oiTO, who- 
 ever. Compare this word with the conditional et Se rt of 
 I. 5, I. Make several sentences in English with w/2i)^z;^r, 
 whatever clauses, and let each be turned into Greek in 
 two ways, with a relative and with et rt? phrase, ma-re. 
 with the infinitive. It may be as well, in choosing be- 
 tween the infinitive and the indicative construction with 
 tuo-re, to allow the pupil to follow the English set for 
 him. If the infinitive is used in the English sentence, so 
 as to, then the infinitive in Greek : if in English so that, 
 then the indicative in Greek. The line between the two 
 constructions is a difficult one to draw, and I do not 
 think it the best way of employing a pupil's time at this 
 stage of his progress to attempt to explain such delicate 
 questions, even if a satisfactory statement were possible. 
 Closely connected with the use of conjunctions and 
 particles is the wide extension of the participle construc- 
 tion in Greek as compared with English. I ^j^^ ^^ ^j 
 find often that fairly good students are not Participles 
 famihar with this use in Greek. In setting 
 sentences for translation, the teacher should call for 
 both ways of phrasing subordinate clauses, as above 
 suggested; and for some sentences, too, where the 
 genitive will be needed as well as the nominative. In 
 the sentence under consideration <f>iXova-a (causal) and 
 SiariOek (temporal) are good examples of the " imperfect 
 participle." 
 
304 GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 Especially should it be made clear that a subordinate 
 clause with the pluperfect in English should be rendered 
 by the aorist participle. Important also are the uses 
 corresponding to English the men who are doing, saying, 
 etc., or those who do, say, etc. Greek ol iroiovwei. 
 
 The uses of the various pronouns are frequently not 
 
 well learned. iKelvof and avT6<;, oj5to9 and oBe are too 
 
 often confounded. The rules for their use 
 
 Demonstra- . , . , , . , ^ 
 
 tive Pro- are perfectly simple, and it must be from 
 nouns. failure to notice their uses in reading or 
 from lack of practice that the confusion arises. The 
 habit of translating into English by pronouns strongly 
 emphasized wherever they are used as the equivalents 
 of the Greek demonstratives, will prove a great help. 
 The English sentences given for translation into Greek 
 should be made to show this, whether they are given to 
 the class in writing or orally. Anabasis, I. 1,4, and 5, 
 furnish two or three good illustrations. Do not allow 
 avTov to be given emphasis in any English translation, 
 or to be put in the emphatic place, first in its clause, in 
 Greek. The form ravra proves a stumbling-block in 
 the way of good translation in many cases. We do not 
 say in English these things, or such things, with any 
 frequency. And yet Tavra and Toiavra are exceedingly 
 common in Greek, ravra means this over and over 
 again. Or we may, in cases where ravra is the object 
 of a verb, put the special meaning of the verb into the 
 form of a noun, and then translate the verb by such a 
 general word as made, did, etc. E. g. ravra elwev, he 
 said this, or he made this statement (^statements'. 
 
 One other group of pronominal words needs atten- 
 tion — the correlatives. I have spoken of them above 
 (page 259). 
 
 An exercise of great value consists in making a sen- 
 tence for translation that contains one word in a variety 
 
GREEK COMPOSITION 305 
 
 of meanings calling for a number of different words in 
 Greek. For example, English that may be chosen, and 
 a sentence hke this given : " Xenophon tells us y,^^^ 
 in the Anabasis that Cyrus collected an army Devices for 
 that he might march against his brother. He ^*"^'=*- 
 did this so secretly that his brother did not perceive 
 that-^\o\.'' Or to illustrate the word ask: " Cyrus asks 
 Clearchus to ask the soldiers why they ask for more 
 pay." Other English words of common occurrence, and 
 which may be profitably used for such work are these : 
 To, as a preposition in various senses, as an indication 
 of a purpose clause, before an infinitive. Then, which 
 must be distinguished carefully when emphatic and 
 temporal — in that case corresponding to rare, and when 
 inferential or transitional, when it is to be translated by 
 oiv. Now, to be treated in a similar way. Would, 
 when used where Greek optative is required or allowed, 
 has two distinct values in Greek. It is either condi- 
 tional, or it represents a will of direct discourse. These 
 two uses, I have found, are very often confused in the 
 student's mind, and consequently in his composition. 
 Another way would be to give a number of EngUsh 
 words in a sentence, all of which are to be rendered by 
 the same word in Greek. The prepositions will furnish 
 examples here. The various uses of one Greek word 
 may be grouped together and illustrated in one exer- 
 cise. The various ways of expressing one idea will 
 prove a good theme for practice at one time. Take a 
 sentence, for instance, which contains a clause of pur- 
 pose, and let the students endeavour to express the pur- 
 pose clause in as many ways as possible. The same 
 plan may be followed for the expression of cause, of 
 time, and so on. Other phrases often mistranslated are 
 he must do, he had to do, he ought to do. Correct trans- 
 lation from the Greek in the first place, is the best help 
 
3o6 GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 to right use in composition. If a student is allowed to 
 translate hel with the infinitive by it is tiecessary for, he 
 is pretty sure to use a dative in Greek when told to 
 express a thought by Set. 
 
 The order of words in writing is always puzzling to a 
 beginner. The Greek order is quite free, and often 
 Order of corresponds to the English order in the same 
 Words. sentence. The student should be cautioned 
 against putting the verb at the end of its clause in all 
 cases, against putting an unemphatic word first in the 
 sentence, and against misplacing the particles used. 
 In particular, av should not be put first in its clause.^ 
 The proper position of attributive and of predicate 
 words should be strictly noted and followed. For the 
 rest, the best advice is to follow models to be found in 
 the Greek text. Make the pupil feel that he must be 
 ready to give a reason for the order in which he places 
 his words, as well as for the choice of the words them- 
 selves. The really dangerous attitude toward the matter 
 is one which assumes that it does not make any difference 
 how it is done. If a reason cannot be found for a par- 
 ticular arrangement, then it is best to admit the fact 
 plainly, but only after a reason has been diligently 
 sought for. 
 
 In this review of some of the problems presented by 
 this part of the teaching of Greek, I have not attempted 
 to be exhaustive, or to do more than suggest 
 Composition ways of meeting certain defects and difficul- 
 meansHard ^jes which I have found to be common. I 
 wish to add, however, my firm conviction 
 that no lasting results can be secured without constant 
 and hard labour by the teacher in correcting the exercises 
 
 1 I should not think it necessary to emphasize this, had I not found 
 i,v so misplaced in an illustrative sentence in a book on composition which 
 is widely used. 
 
GREEK COMPOSITION 
 
 307 
 
 written by the student. This should be done for every 
 exercise given out and for each individual paper. 
 There is no efficient substitute for this work. Allowing 
 the students to correct their own exercises from a model 
 sentence or sentences written on the blackboard, will not 
 answer at all. The mistakes made are so varied that 
 they demand individual treatment. In a class of any 
 considerable size, I think it well, after each paper has 
 been corrected and handed back to its writer, to take up 
 the essential points involved in the lesson, and treat 
 them at length with blackboard illustration. This gives 
 an opportunity to take up and consider the misconcep- 
 tions which have been discovered through the mistakes 
 made, and allows of individual questions on any matters 
 connected with the exercise. The information which 
 the teacher gains in this way is of great aid in choosing 
 the points to be emphasized in the following lessons. 
 As a valuable aid in this work of correction, the stu- 
 dents should be compelled to write all of their exercises 
 upon paper specially prepared for this purpose, and 
 put up in padded form, with a code of abbreviations of 
 the highest value. It is called the Greek Composition 
 Tablet, was devised by Professor B. L. D'Ooge, and is 
 published by Messrs. Ginn & Co., Boston. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 GBOGBAPHY AND HI3TOKY 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 Holm, A, History of Greece, 4 vols. New York, 1896-1898. The 
 best general history of Greece which takes account of recent investiga- 
 tions and explorations. 
 
 Oman, O. W. C. A History of Greece from the earliest times to the 
 death of Alexander the Great. London and New York, Longmans, 
 1891. 
 
 Botsford, G. W. A History of Greece for High Schools and Acade- 
 mies. New York, Macmillan, 1899. A book of the highest value to 
 every teacher of Greek history. It gives much space to the social and 
 literary development of the people. Contains also good lists of selected 
 books of value to teachers in this field. 
 
 Cox, G. "W. Lives of Greek Statesmen, 2 vols. New York, 1886. 
 
 Abbott, B. Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens. New York, 1891. 
 
 ■Wheeler, B. I. Alexander the Great. The Merging of East and 
 West in Universal History. New York, 1900. 
 
 Gardner, Percy. New Chapters in Greek History. Historical results 
 of recent excavations in Greece and Asia Minor. London, 1892. 
 
 Harrison and Verrall. Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens. 
 London, 1890. A translation of the portion of Pausanias which is 
 devoted to Athens, with a full commentary, many figures and plans. A 
 very valuable work. 
 
 Maiaffy, J. P. Survey of Greek Civilization. Meadville, Pa., 1896. 
 
 Jebb, K. C. A Primer of Greek Literature. New York, 1887. 
 
 GUbert, G. Handbook of Greek Constitutional Antiquities. London, 
 1895. 
 
 Greenidge, A. H. J. A Handbook of Greek Constitutional History. 
 London, 1896. 
 
 For the best works on Ancient Geography, see page 199. The works 
 just mentioned are but a few out of a vast number which could be given. 
 Others may serve as well. I feel sure that these will not prove 
 disappointing. 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 309 
 
 Schools differ considerably in their ways of treat- 
 ing the teaching of Greek history. In some it is made 
 a part of the duties of the teacher of Greek ; gj^^^jy ^ 
 in others it is treated as a portion of history properPartof 
 in general, and its teaching is assigned to the ^^ '^ ' 
 department of history. In their valuable report to the 
 American Historical Association the committee (of that 
 association) of seven criticise unfavorably the first of 
 these two ways of teaching Greek history, and enter a 
 strong plea for a change everywhere to the second 
 method of dealing with this subject. They say : " In 
 some schools the history [of Greece and Rome] remains 
 a subordinate subject, coming once or twice a week, and 
 even then it is often in the hands of a classical instructor 
 who is more interested in linguistics than in history, and 
 has had no training in historical method. . . . The per- 
 spective and emphasis within the field covered have 
 been determined by literary and linguistic rather than 
 by historical considerations, with the result that the chief 
 attention is devoted to the periods when great writers 
 lived and wrote. Too much time, for example, is com- 
 monly given to the Peloponnesian war, while the Helle- 
 nistic period is neglected." All this is undoubtedly true. 
 The proper remedy is, I believe, not to transfer the in- 
 struction in Greek history to another department of 
 instruction, but to insist that the teacher of Greek shall 
 have had some adequate training in historical method as 
 an essential part of the preparation for his work. The 
 teacher of Greek must be familiar with the field of Greek 
 literature, and he must have studied some, at least, of 
 the masterpieces of that literature. In this way he has 
 a stronger grasp of the great factors of Greek history 
 — the life and thought of the people — than the man 
 trained in historical method but lacking in this first-hand 
 knowledge of Greek can possibly have. I do not 
 
3IO 
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 think that a teacher unfamiliar with Homer could give 
 anything like as good an impression of what the 
 " Mycenaean civilization " means in Greek history as 
 one to whom the Iliad and Odyssey had made Homeric 
 life a real and hving thing. A knowledge of the drama 
 of jEschylus and of the dramatic narrative of He- 
 rodotus is essential to a clear view of the conflict between 
 Greek and Persian. The verdict of modern historians 
 upon the issues involved in the struggle of Athens and 
 Macedon for the leadership among Greek states robs 
 Demosthenes' name of much of the glory so long attached 
 to it. I doubt, however, if a teacher who had not studied 
 the speeches of Demosthenes could appreciate the atti- 
 tude of the orator or the power he wielded over his 
 fellow-citizens. The failure to realize this power and its 
 results means failure to grasp the most important fact in 
 the whole struggle. 
 
 I urge, then, that the teacher of Greek should be the 
 teacher of the history of the Greeks, as well as the 
 teacher of their language and their Hterature, and that he 
 should be trained for this work as carefully as he is 
 trained for work in teaching Greek grammar. 
 
 The history to be studied is the history of the activities 
 of various Greek peoples and of different Greek states, — 
 Importance ^ history of the Greeks, not of Greece. There- 
 of Correct fore it is of the highest importance that 
 '^^' the student should get a correct idea of the 
 
 geography of the countries inhabited by these different 
 peoples. The student's first map of the Greek world 
 should be broad enough to include all the lands which 
 were the seat of Greek activity in history and in which 
 their civilization was developed. This map should in- 
 clude not Greece alone — as is too often the case — but 
 all the borders of the Mediterranean, both sides of the 
 .iEgean, the Bosphorus, and the western end of the 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 311 
 
 Euxine. No map of Greece can be satisfactory which 
 does not include the Greek cities of Sicily and south- 
 ern Italy, nor one which fails to show Miletus, Smyrna, 
 Rhodes, Antioch, and Alexandria. The excellent map 
 of the Greek world reproduced here is taken from Bots- 
 ford's History of Greece, by the kind permission of the 
 publishers of that volume. 
 
 On this map notice may be taken of these features, 
 and the attention of the students called to them. First, 
 although a considerable part of Asia is Features to te 
 shown, that part faces westward. The Greek '™P'>asized. 
 settlements and cities on the ^gean coast of Asia 
 Minor are in effect a part of Europe. Their history is 
 a part of the history of the West, not of the Orient. 
 Further, the various portions of the Greek world 
 are connected more closely by water than by land. 
 Some expressions in the language itself mark the coast 
 as the starting-point for journeys by land or by sea. 
 E. g. ava^aiveiv, " to go up from the coast to the 
 interior ; " avdyea-dai, " to put out to sea ; " and KaTa- 
 ^alveiv and Kard'^eaOai with meanings just the opposite 
 of these. Communication was in ancient times, and still 
 is, easier by water routes than by land. The prevailing 
 winds were during the season of navigation fairly regular 
 and even, thus favouring the development of a commerce 
 which was vital to the existence of a people much of 
 whose land was not specially rich. " From three sides 
 the sea penetrates into all parts of Hellas ; and while it 
 accustoms men's eyes to greater acuteness and their 
 minds to higher enterprise, it never ceases to excite 
 their fancy for the sea, which, in regions where no ice 
 binds it during the whole course of the year, effects an 
 incomparably closer union between the lands than is the 
 case with the inhospitable inland seas of the North. If 
 it is easily agitated, it is also easily calmed again ; its 
 
312 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 dangers are diminished by the multitude of safe bays for 
 anchorage, which the mariner may speedily reach at the 
 approach of foul weather. The winds are legislators of 
 the weather; but even they in these latitudes submit to 
 certain rules, and only rarely rise to the vehemence of 
 desolating hurricanes. Never, except in the short win- 
 ter season, is there any uncertain irregularity in wind 
 and weather; the commencement of the fair season — 
 the safe months, as the ancients called it — brings with 
 it an immutable law followed by the winds in the entire 
 Archipelago : every morning the north wind arises from 
 the coasts of Thrace, and passes over the whole island- 
 sea. . . . This wind subsides at sunset. Then the sea 
 becomes smooth, and air and water tranquil, till almost 
 imperceptibly a slight contrary wind arises, a breeze 
 from the south." ^ 
 
 Great confusion arises often in the minds of students 
 
 from the different scales on which maps are made. Most 
 
 maps of Greece are drawn on a rather large 
 
 SiM^* ^^ scale. Unless other maps which contain a 
 
 Towns and larger number of countries be used for the 
 Countries. ^ ■ ^^ ■ c ., 
 
 purposes of comparison, the size of the va- 
 rious Greek states is apt to be much exaggerated. For 
 example, Sicily usually appears on a map containing 
 Italy, in whole or in part, and so seems to be much 
 smaller than the Peloponnese, although the latter is but 
 about four fifths its size. Again, the importance of 
 Athens in the history of the Greek world makes the 
 mistake of overestimating its size and the size of Attica 
 a not uncommon one. Attica contains about nine hun- 
 dred and seventy square miles, which is almost exactly 
 the size of Warren County in New York State. The 
 State of Rhode Island has an area of twelve hundred 
 and forty-seven square miles. The city of Athens was 
 
 1 Curtius, History of Greece, English translation, vol. i. pp. 21 f. 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 313 
 
 not a large one. It contained about two and one 
 quarter square miles of land, or just about the area 
 of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Every teacher can find 
 opportunities for illustrations of this kind, and thus 
 help his students to get a clearer idea of what they are 
 studying. 
 
 Special maps and plans of Athens should be available, 
 and, if possible, a plaster model of the Acropolis. 
 Special maps for the various battlefields are Fiansof 
 to be found in many of the histories in use. ■^t''^"*- 
 They ought to be supplemented by photographs of such 
 places, if these can be obtained. One or two views of 
 the bay of Salamis or of the pass of Thermopylae are 
 worth pages of description. In 'the rush to get at the 
 facts, usually emphasized as the all-essential points, 
 descriptions are apt to be read hurriedly, if at all ; or, if 
 studied, to leave an impression of words rather than a 
 real picture of the scene described. Almost anything is 
 better than a mechanical repetition of statements from a 
 textbook. In teaching the special geography of a 
 locality or the topography of a town, it is always of the 
 greatest advantage to be able to use some illustrations 
 from the localities familiar to the students. The teacher 
 who has his eyes open, and who is watching for such 
 opportunities for illustration, will be pretty sure to find 
 them, and will surely be pleased, perhaps surprised, at 
 the results obtained by their aid. 
 
 It is manifestly impossible within the limits of the 
 high school course to give much more than an outline 
 of Greek history. But to do this well, and in how much 
 such a way that the outline shall contain what can be done, 
 is most important, most vital, most characteristic in the 
 life of the people, requires careful training and prepara- 
 tion. It demands that the teacher have the necessary 
 training in historical method, and that he possess such 
 
314 
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 knowledge as will enable him to see the field in its 
 proper relations to other portions of history and in 
 the right perspective. The teacher should have the 
 quahfications for this branch of his work which are de- 
 manded by the committee of the American Historical 
 Association. He will then be able to take a careful 
 survey of the entire field, and to arrange his plan for 
 outlining and subdividing the work. It is of primary 
 importance that the teacher shall have thought out his 
 plan from the beginning to the end, and shall have 
 settled in his own mind just what periods and just what 
 events he intends to dwell upon. If, as is commonly 
 the case, a textbook be used, he must understand the 
 author's plan thoroughly. If, on the other hand, he 
 prefers to teach by dictating the heads of subjects to 
 his class, who are to fill in the outline thus given by 
 reading in works assigned them, he must be convinced 
 of the superior value of his own arrangement. Clear- 
 ness of view on the part of the teacher is the first con- 
 dition of understanding on the part of the student. 
 
 The following division seems to me a convenient one, 
 and one which gives opportunity for enforcing the main 
 Divisioninto facts of Greek history : I. Mycenaean. This 
 Periods. includes the earliest portion of Greek history. 
 It is impossible to fix dates for its beginning or its close. 
 It is made to include all the time from the first traces of 
 human activity in the lands afterwards inhabited by 
 Greek peoples down to about the year lOOO B. C. Strictly 
 speaking, it is limited to the period when Mycenze was 
 the great state in the Greek world. To this may be 
 given, tentatively, the limits 1 500-1000 B. C. Our sources 
 of knowledge of this period of the history of the Greeks 
 are of two kinds : First, the statements in the literature 
 and especially in the Homeric poems. For instance, 
 in the second book of the Iliad the poet says that 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 315 
 
 Agamemnon received the sceptre of his family as a 
 badge of authority to rule over all Argos and many 
 islands. 
 
 The second source of knowledge concerning this 
 period is much larger in amount, much more direct in 
 its character, and consequently much more important. 
 It consists in the discoveries made by archaeological 
 research and excavations. These have really revealed 
 to us a new and hitherto unknown civilization. In the 
 first rank stand the explorations of Schliemann and his 
 successors in Argos and the Troad. The interest of the 
 high school student who is reading Homer will surely 
 be awakened for this part of Greek history. Simple 
 problems in the relations of the archaeological remains 
 to the descriptions of the poet may profitably be as- 
 signed for solution by a class. The attempt at com- 
 parison will produce a more careful study of the Greek 
 text and of the objects under discussion. Furthermore, 
 this kind of illustrative material is being discovered 
 constantly ; and the questions settled or raised by each 
 nevifind are so broadly interesting that they appeal to 
 a wide circle of readers, and the accounts of such dis- 
 coveries are published in journals of a general character. 
 A good illustration of this was supplied by the accounts 
 in the New York Independent for May 3 1 and June 7, 
 and by Mr. Louis Dyer in The Nation of August 3, 
 1900, of the discoveries made by Mr. Arthur J. Evans in 
 Crete. His explorations there, in addition to much 
 other valuable knowledge, have thrown new light upon 
 the question of writing in Mycenaean times and upon the 
 early history of the alphabet. Material of this kind is 
 more available for the use of the high school student 
 than that which appears in archaeological or philologi- 
 cal journals merely. Its use gives a freshness to the 
 interest in this earliest period of Greek history, a period 
 
3i6 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 with which the student becomes acquainted through his 
 Homer. 
 
 The early history of the historic states, in particular 
 
 Athens and Sparta, and the colonizing activity of the 
 
 Athens and Greeks form the main features of the political 
 
 Sparta. history of the next period, which may be 
 
 limited by the year 500 B. C. and the beginnings of the 
 
 wars with foreign states. 
 
 The history of this period gives ample illustration of 
 the breaking down of the old inherited political system, 
 and of the development in various ways towards newer 
 forms of organization. These changes should be studied, 
 and their causes and their results should be under- 
 stood. 
 
 This is particularly important in the case of Sparta 
 and of Athens, since these states came to represent types 
 of government, and were in the next period of Greek 
 history the leaders in the Greek world. Two other 
 features of the history of this period are of much impor- 
 tance. First, the expansion and extension of Greek 
 commerce over the lands of the Mediterranean. The 
 placing of traders' posts, and sometimes, a little later, a 
 regular colony from the mother city (/u-T/TjOOTroXt?) at the 
 points most desirable for trade, was the starting-point 
 for some of the most flourishing of Greek cities. It also 
 gave a distinctively Greek character to the hfe and the 
 civilization of Sicily and lower Italy, among other coun- 
 tries, which they never lost in later times nor under the 
 greatest political changes. The second point is the 
 creative activity of the Greek mind, particularly in 
 poetry and in philosophy. Some of the finest of Greek 
 lyrics were written in the sixth century. The same cen- 
 tury saw the beginnings of that philosophical activity 
 which made Greek thought and Greek thinkers in this 
 field famous for all time. If Herodotus is read in the 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 317 
 
 school course, many of his most charming stories ^ may 
 well be chosen for reading in connection with the study 
 of this period of Greek history. 
 
 The third period may be limited by the years 500 and 
 431 B. c. In the years between these dates the Greeks 
 established themselves firmly against the at- East and 
 tacks of non-Greek peoples in both the East, ''^^• 
 where the Persians were the leaders, and the West, 
 where the attack came from the Carthaginians. 
 
 The general term barbarians was applied by the 
 Greeks to all other peoples, but the word should be 
 avoided because it carries with it, as now used by us, 
 wrong impressions. The better way to look at this 
 great" struggle for supremacy in the lands of the Medi- 
 terranean is as a struggle between East and West, and 
 the form of civilization represented by each ; a struggle 
 which began long before this time, and which has been 
 repeated in various forms many times since then, even 
 to the present day. The struggle was successfully 
 waged by the Greeks. They placed succeeding genera- 
 tions under a debt of gratitude to them, and in the first 
 rank to Athens. 
 
 Athens made the greatest sacrifices in these wars, and 
 Athens reaped the greatest benefits from their success- 
 ful conclusion. The extension of the power of Athens 
 during the years following the battles of Salamis and 
 of Plataia is the second great political feature of these 
 seventy years. There is no danger that too little atten- 
 tion will be paid to the various achievements of the " Per- 
 iclean Age." In fact, the historians complain that too 
 much time is spent on this part of Greek history. But 
 it is in this time that Athens made some of her noblest 
 and richest contributions to the things of the spirit. 
 
 ' E. g., the story of Croesus and Solon, of Cleobis and Bito, of Arion, 
 of Agariste. 
 
3i8 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 A fourth period may be made to include the years of 
 
 war between the various Greek states from 43 1 B. C, the 
 
 formal outbreak of the Peloponnesian war, to 
 
 Civil 'W'flT's 
 
 338 B. C.the battle of Chseronea. This, polit- 
 ically considered, is a period of confusion. The earlier 
 part of it is occupied by the contest between Athens 
 and Sparta, with the allies of each. The success of 
 Sparta is not of long standing before Thebes becomes the 
 chief city of the eastern Greek world, — a place which 
 she also is unable to hold. The period closes with the 
 final triumph of the Macedonian power over the disin- 
 tegrated states of Greece. In other than the political 
 aspect the period presents many facts of the highest im- 
 portance. The greatest of Greek prose writers lived 
 during this time ; Greek art reached its highest perfection, 
 Greek philosophy its most perfect form. The intel- 
 lectual life becomes more and more separated from the 
 soldier's and statesman's life. Theories in religion, in 
 government, were thought out and put in many cases to 
 actual experiment. The time was in many ways pecul- 
 iarly and interestingly " modern." A more general 
 knowledge of some of the theories, especially in what 
 may be somewhat broadly termed " the field of soci- 
 ology," and of the attempts to put them into practice, 
 might possibly prevent at the present time the repetition 
 of the failures which then followed. 
 
 ., j™ The fifth period includes the time of the 
 Alexander ^ 
 
 andHei- Macedonian empire and the Hellenistic king- 
 lemsm. doms and cities, down to the incorporation 
 of the last of them into the empire of Rome in 
 30 B. c. 
 
 Alexandria is the central place in these years, whose 
 interest lies in the growth and extension of Greek 
 thought over East and West. In the kingdom of the 
 world Greece has ceased to have power, in the 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 319 
 
 realm of the soul she has established her right to rule 
 forever. 
 
 I do not attach great importance to this particular 
 division into periods. It may not suit a single teacher. 
 One may prefer more, another fewer divisions. I do 
 believe, as I said above, that it is of supreme importance 
 for the teacher to have a clear notion of what he is go- 
 ing to attempt before he begins the work. The least 
 uncertainty or confusion in the teacher's mind will be 
 multiplied many times in the mind of his pupil. As to 
 details of method, I shall offer but a single suggestion. 
 I believe strongly in the value of a study of biography. 
 Wherever possible I should try to introduce it. I am 
 not sure but the story of the Persian War would be re- 
 membered quite as well if taken in connection with the 
 life of Themistocles, as in any other way. 
 
 I feel quite sure that the Macedonian struggle with 
 Athens can best be understood if looked at in connec- 
 tion with the life of Demosthenes. The main thing — • 
 let me repeat it once more — is, first, a conviction that 
 these actions and these thoughts of the Greeks have a 
 value for us, that they mean something to us now ; and 
 secondly, a clear notion of what that value is and what 
 that meaning is. 
 
 Modern Greece: Descriptions of Land and People. 
 Some knowledge of the country of Greece as it is at the 
 present time, and of the people and their life is a valu- 
 able help to the teacher in describing and illustrating 
 places and events of ancient time. The most desirable 
 way of getting this knowledge is, of course, by a visit to 
 the country. But this is not possible for many, and 
 recourse must be had in most cases to the accounts of 
 travellers. 
 
 I give here the titles of some of the works best adapted 
 to this end : 
 
320 
 
 GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY 
 
 Baedeker, Karl. Greece. Handbook for Travellers. Eng- 
 lish Edition. Leipzig, Karl Baedeker ; New York, Scribner. 
 One of the well-known series of guide-books for travellers, and 
 the best in English. It contains many maps and plans, which 
 show both the ancient and the modern conditions, and has also 
 a sketch of Greek history and of Greek art. It is the best book 
 for obtaining an accurate and systematic description of the land 
 and the buildings, and its usefulness is not limited to travellers. 
 
 Bent, J. T. The Cyclades, or Life among the Insular Greeks. 
 London, 1885. One of the most interesting descriptions of the 
 life of the Greek people in the districts where modern changes 
 have affected it the least. 
 
 Tozer, H. F. The Islands of the ^gean. Oxford, 1890. 
 Similar in theme to the one last mentioned. 
 
 Rodd, R. The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece. 
 London, 1892. Interesting descriptions of present-day folk- 
 lore and folk-song, with suggestions as to the connection of some 
 of them with the ancient customs and beliefs. 
 
 Diehl, C. Excursions in Greece to recently Explored Sites 
 of Classical Interest. London, 1893. A popular account of 
 the results of recent investigations. 
 
 Barrows, S. J. The Isles and Shrines of Greece. Boston, 
 1898. A charmingly written book of travel. Perhaps the best 
 general book of the kind within the last few years. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MYTHOLOGY AND AKT 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 A. On Mythology. 
 
 Gayley, C. M. The Classic Myths in English Literature. Based 
 chiefly on Bulfinch's " Age of Fable." Accompanied by an interpreta- 
 tive and illustrative commentary. Boston, 1893. A most excellent work, 
 particularly for its treatment of the mythological element in English 
 literature. 
 
 Butfinch, Thomas. The Age of Fable. A new revised and enlarged 
 edition by J. L. Scott. Philadelphia, 1898. Similar to the last-named 
 work. 
 
 Baleigh, K. A. Translator from Petdsous, A. H. The Gods of 
 Olympos, or Mythology of the Greeks and Romans. With a preface by 
 Jane E. Harrison. London, 1892. 
 
 These three are the most convenient elementary manuals in this field. 
 The first excels in literary illustration ; the third in pictorial matter, hav- 
 ing many choice illustrations drawn purely from classical sources. The 
 second book has a number of good illustrations, but they are taken from 
 modern as well as ancient works of art, and hence are not so well adapted 
 to showing the Greek conception. 
 
 Smith, 'WiUiam, Editor. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biog- 
 raphy and Mythology. London, 1880. A large work in three volumes. 
 A great work for its day, and still useful, though on many points addi- 
 tional light has been thrown since it was published. 
 
 FameU, L. E. The Cults of the Greek States. Three vols. Oxford, 
 1898. 
 
 Dyer, Xiouis. Studies of the Gods in Greece. London, 1891. 
 
 Campbell, Lewis. Religion in Greek Literature. London, 1898. 
 
 These three are valuable works of reference on the archaeological and 
 the literary interpretation and expression of the Greek religious cults. 
 
 B. On Art. 
 
 Collignon, M. Manual of Greek Archaeology. Translated by J. H. 
 Wright. New York, 1886. An excellent brief work, covering the his- 
 tory of all forms of Greek Art. 
 
 2T 
 
322 
 
 MYTHOLOGY AND ART 
 
 Tarbell, P. B. History o£ Greek Art. Meadville, Pa., 1896. Good 
 general survey of the entire field. 
 
 Gardner, E. A. A Handbook of Greek Sculpture. New York, 1897. 
 Two parts. May be had separately or both in one volume. This is 
 the latest and best short work on Greek sculpture, and well worth owning. 
 It is well illustrated and contains a selected bibliography. 
 
 Mitchell, L. M. A History of Ancient Sculpture. New York, 1883. 
 A large work dealing with the entire field of ancient sculpture. Some- 
 what behind the fuller knowledge of the present time, but an excellent 
 book for a school library. There is an atlas of illustrations published in 
 connection with it. 
 
 Larger and more expensive works are : 
 
 Baumeister, A. Denkmaler des klassichen Altertums. Munich, l888. 
 Three large volumes, splendidly illustrated. The book of pictures edited 
 by the same man, and mentioned on page 198, is made up of selections 
 from this work. 
 
 Furtwangler, A. Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture. Translated by 
 E. Sellers. London, 1895. With atlas of plates. 
 
 Perrot and Chipiez. History of Art in Primitive Greece. Mycenasan 
 Art. Two vols. London, 1894. A splendid book, finely illustrated. 
 Particularly valuable in connection with the study of Homer. 
 
 Harrison and MacColl. Greek Vase Paintings. A selection of ex- 
 amples with preface, introduction, and descriptions. London, 1894. Mag- 
 nificent work, but too expensive for the average teacher. A luxury for a 
 school library. 
 
 A list of dealers in photographs is given in the Appendix at the end 
 of this volume. I wish to commend the collection of the Messrs. A. W. 
 Elson & Co. Their catalogue descriptive of the history of Greek and 
 Roman art, with a list of illustrations selected by Professor F. B. Tar- 
 bell, is a valuable help in making purchases in this line. 
 
 Closely connected with Greek history is the subject 
 of Greek Mythology. The Hne which separates the two 
 Mythology cannot always be drawn with certainty, nor 
 and History, vvhen drawn is it sure to remain stationary. 
 Recent historical investigation has accepted as true, and 
 hence characterizes as history, some stories which had 
 long been considered idle tales of the ever-lively Greek 
 fancy. In general, I believe that the tendency of the 
 studies and discoveries of recent years has been towards 
 confirming ancient tradition. 
 
 Our ability to prove the truth of legendary history 
 
MYTHOLOGY AND ART 323 
 
 must always be limited by the accident which gives or 
 withholds the information on which a judgment may be 
 based. But in so far as the effect of these legends 
 upon the Greeks themselves is concerned, their absolute 
 truth or falsity is of no importance. The Greeks be- 
 lieved them, and acted upon the basis of this belief. It 
 is this influence of their legends and myths upon the 
 Greeks which makes the study of their mythology im- 
 portant to the understanding of the religion and the 
 social organization of the Greek states. 
 
 Greek mythology is also of the first importance for 
 the study of Greek art. The two were most intimately 
 associated. Religious subjects furnished the Mythology 
 highest inspiration to their artists, whether ""*-*rt. 
 sculptors or poets. In temples, the finest and rich- 
 est houses they could build, their artists placed the 
 noblest images of their gods. The worship of these 
 divinities called forth the best efforts of their poets and 
 musicians. Not merely the person of a god is repre- 
 sented in the statues and reliefs, but some activity of the 
 god, some one of the legendary events in his life and 
 dealings with his people. 
 
 And this is, of course, the case in representations of 
 groups of divinities. A good illustration of this princi- 
 ple may be seen in the figures in the pediments of the 
 temple of Zeus at Olympia. The Apollo, for instance, 
 which forms the central figure in the group of the west- 
 ern pediment is a magnificent piece of work. Its full 
 meaning, however, can be understood only in connection 
 with the help of the surrounding figures and the story 
 thus represented. So far, then, as Greek mythology 
 deals with human beings, it is closely related to Greek 
 history, and where it touches the deeds of gods as well 
 as of men it finds its most perfect interpretation in Greek 
 art. 
 
324 MYTHOLOGY AND ART 
 
 These considerations concern primarily the under- 
 standing and interpretation of Greek hterature and art. 
 
 Another reason may be urged for the study 
 thoiogy in of Greek mythology, — one which will appeal 
 merahire. *^° ^ larger number of teachers and students, 
 
 and which may be considered stronger than 
 those mentioned. It is the importance of some knowl- 
 edge of the myths of the Greeks for an adequate under- 
 standing of English literature. With the possible 
 exception of our Bible, no literature has contributed so 
 largely to the stock of illustration, of comparison, and 
 of familiar reference in the best English authors as has 
 the Greek. A mythological name has in many instances 
 in English been the source of a word, most frequently an 
 adjective, whose origin in its common use has become 
 largely obscured, or perhaps quite forgotten. For ex- 
 ample, the words tantalize, vulcanize, martial, mercurial 
 would seldom, I think, suggest their ultimate derivation. 
 In hercidean, cyclopean, delphic, saturnine the derivation 
 has not been so completely lost. Again, in figures and 
 comparisons, and here especially in poetry, Greek my- 
 thology furnishes no inconsiderable amount of material. 
 I give as illustrations the following examples chosen 
 from one poem : 
 
 "The murmur of a happy Pan." 
 
 " The pulses of a Titan's heart." 
 
 " But some wild Pallas from the brain." 
 
 " The reeling Faun, the sensual feast." 
 
 " Sad Hesper o'er the buried sun." 
 
 " On thy Parnassus set thy feet." 
 
 " To many a flute of ArcadyP 
 
 Lastly, Greek mythology has furnished the subject 
 matter for many beautiful poems in English; and, of 
 course, English translations from the ancient classics are 
 
MYTHOLOGY AND ART 325 
 
 full of its creations. Granting, then, the desirability or 
 necessity for learning something of Greek mythology, 
 how can this be best accomphshed? Un- how can 
 doubtedly the simpler stories can be most Knowledge 
 easily learned in childhood. Many chil- jestse 
 dren will learn them at home or in their first ^^^'^^ 
 reading lessons. But many — I fear, an increasing num- 
 ber — will not. These will come to the study of their 
 Latin and Greek largely or completely ignorant in this 
 field. How shall they be taught? One way is by a 
 definite lesson in a book to be learned and recited. 
 This plan is urged by Gayley in his excellent book, 
 already noticed. I cannot speak from experience, but 
 am not over-sanguine as to the retention in memory of 
 matters learned in that way apart from some association 
 or connection with other work. The framework — the 
 names and relations of the greater gods, for instance — 
 ought to be carefully and exactly learned. I should 
 think it advisable to leave much of the details to be taken 
 up in connection with the places in the reading where 
 references to myths or to mythological persons are 
 found. For instance, Apollo, one of the most important 
 of Greek gods, is spoken of in the Anabasis in connec- 
 tion with his oracle at Delphi, while in the first book of 
 the Iliad he is seen visiting his wrath upon the Greeks 
 by means of a pestilence. The two passages afford an 
 opportunity for studying the different aspects of the cult 
 of Apollo, and so, it seems to me, of fixing in the stu- 
 dent's mind these essentials in a much firmer way than 
 if they were learned out of connection with an actual 
 observed case. 
 
 To assist this knowledge further, and to enlarge at the 
 
 same time the student's acquaintance with „ „ ^, 
 
 ^ Tbe Reading: 
 
 Greek, themes in English literature, it is well of EngUsii 
 to call for the reading of some bit of English ^°'*^" 
 
326 MYTHOLOGY AND ART 
 
 which has the same or a similar theme. To illustrate 
 what I have in mind, I would suggest the reading of Swin- 
 burne's The Lost Oracle in connection with the study of 
 Apollo and his oracle. Tennyson's Tithonus will come 
 naturally in connection with the reading of the Odyssey, 
 Book V. Further material in great abundance may be 
 found in Gayley. It is the existence of a myth as a 
 factor in literature that is the main point to be grasped. 
 As to attempting an explanation of the origin of a myth, I 
 believe that is a matter to be settled by each teacher, as 
 his judgment shall decide. Such explanations are not 
 always certain, they are frequently confusing, and their 
 value is secondary. It is best to treat these creations of 
 the imagination as actual living creatures, for only so is 
 their influence to be at all adequately grasped. There 
 is, at best, little enough of the imaginative left in our 
 school work. 
 
 Greek Art. " Though, as a matter of fact, most people 
 are more familiar with classical authors as a source for in- 
 importance of formation, the remains of art, and especially of 
 Greek Art. Greek art, are, from its position in antiquity, 
 one of the most important sources for the study of the 
 institutions, customs, and, above all, the spirit and char- 
 acter of that people, and of the changes and modifi- 
 cations of its constitution and spirit in various localities 
 and various epochs. It is difficult for those of our time 
 to realize this primary and essential position held by art 
 with the Greeks, simply because art is not to us the great 
 reality which it was to the ancient Greeks." These sen- 
 tences, taken from a distinguished contemporary inter- 
 preter ^ of Greek art, present at once in clear fashion the 
 importance of this part of the study of Greek antiquity, 
 and at the same time indicate the great difficulty in 
 securing any adequate appreciation of it. And yet an 
 
 1 Charles Waldstein, Essays on the Art of Pheidias New York, 1885. 
 
MYTHOLOGY AND ART 337 
 
 increased power of perceiving the beautiful, and greater 
 love for beautiful objects ought to be one of the choicest 
 fruits of study which deals with the one people who in 
 all the history of mankind were supremely endowed with 
 this knowledge and love of beauty, and with the power 
 of expressing it in enduring forms of art. 
 
 This feeling for the beautiful cannot be obtained by 
 any reading or learning of facts about beautiful objects. 
 Beauty in sculpture is appreciated by a power peeUi^ neces- 
 gained through seeing beautiful statues, not saryasweuas 
 by reading descriptions of them. The knowl- ^'^^<^«^- 
 edge of what is good in architecture comes from seeing 
 fine and noble buildings, not from learning their dimen- 
 sions, or the materials of which they are made. A love 
 for good music comes from hearing good music, not from 
 studying the various books about musical history or 
 musical theory. The most exact knowledge about the 
 syllables, the feet, and the caesural pause of the Homeric 
 verse will not give the student any adequate idea of what 
 the verse really is. He must hear it read aloud, and 
 must so read it himself, in order to know its beauty. 
 The student, then, must get his power to appreciate the 
 beauty of Greek art by seeing the best of its creations, 
 or, as that is seldom possible in the United States, by 
 seeing the best obtainable representations of them. 
 There is no danger now, I imagine, that the student will 
 fail to see pictures enough in his school-rooms. Rather, 
 it seems to me, is he exposed to the risk of seeing too 
 many. The various processes of photographic reproduc- 
 tion have been so developed that prints of one kind or 
 another are very common. Confusion of ideas, lack of 
 clear vision of the best, must be the result of too many 
 pictures, and especially if they are cheap ones. 
 
 A careful selection of photographs should be made 
 for the purposes of illustration, whether of the art monu- 
 
328 MYTHOLOGY AND ART 
 
 merits illustrating the author being read at the time, 
 or of a systematic course of instruction in the history of 
 Materials for ^i"*^- ^^ there is in the school a regular de- 
 Dinstration. partment of art with its own collections and 
 with its separate teacher, then help can be obtained from 
 this source. But this is likely to be the case in few 
 schools, and the teacher of Greek must look out for this 
 part of his instruction. What he can have will be en- 
 tirely dependent on the money at his disposal. I believe 
 it is best to have at least one good plaster cast of some 
 piece of sculpture, and one such cast bronzed. The 
 advantages of casts over pictures hardly needs to be 
 emphasized, and a single example at least should be 
 secured, if possible. The head of the Hermes of Praxi- 
 teles would be my choice, if no more than a bust can be 
 bought. If a full statue can be afforded, there is a fair 
 choice between several, but the Aphrodite of Melos 
 would perhaps give the best satisfaction. Not too many 
 photographs should be shown at any one time, or even 
 hung on the walls at the same time. It is better to 
 change the pieces, and so secure undivided attention to 
 the one or the few in view. A great advantage in the 
 representation of Greek sculpture is gained by showing 
 a specimen with the colouring restored, or at least by the 
 knowledge on the part of the teacher of something about 
 the practice of colouring marble. There is one fine 
 illustration in colour in Baumeister's Denkmdler. The 
 teacher should watch for an opportunity to look at 
 Hamdy-Bey and '^&\xya.(^ % N^cropole royale d Sidon, Paris, 
 1896, and especially at the illustrations in the accom- 
 panying atlas of plates. These are magnificent repre- 
 sentations of the sculptured reliefs on the so-called 
 Alexander Sarcophagus of Sidon. Interesting also is 
 the conjectural restoration in colour of the Doric temple 
 architecture in Fenger's Dorische Polychromie, with atlas 
 
MYTHOLOGY AND ART 
 
 329 
 
 of plates, Berlin, 1886. These last-mentioned are not 
 likely to be found outside of a large library, but a chance 
 to examine the first one, at least, should not be allowed 
 to escape. 
 
 Some explanation and interpretation of each piece 
 shown is necessary, and for this the teacher must make 
 a careful preparation. The teacher must have mastered 
 the subject quite as much, perhaps even more, in this 
 field as in the grammar work. In grammatical matters 
 he can give only what he knows, and as a guide to the 
 beauties of Greek art he can give only what \i& feels. 
 Colleges give some opportunity for this study of Greek 
 art, and universities offer special courses of instruction 
 in the field. With the aid of a book like Gardner's 
 Greek Sculpture such museum collections as are now 
 available in every city of considerable size may be made 
 to supply what deficiencies previous training has left. 
 Simplicity of statement is extremely desirable in all ex- 
 planations. In no field is it easier to use words which 
 convey no definite impression to the student. Enough 
 of illustration and explanation should be given to show 
 in some measure the historical growth and development 
 of Greek art. This is easily done in connection with 
 the reading of Homer, and then of an Attic author or 
 authors. Or it may be done in connection with and as 
 a part of the work in Greek history. Once explained, 
 the picture or cast should be looked at long and, if 
 possible, lovingly by each student, Koi, ouTto? amo 
 •Koiriaei,. 
 
 Most that I have said has been with regard to sculp- 
 ture. The apparatus for instruction in Greek art in the 
 wider sense must make some provision for ^Architecture 
 illustrating some of the most famous temples. Vase Paint- 
 To the list of views given on page five of '' 
 Elson's catalogue, I should add, if possible, a plaster 
 
330 MYTHOLOGY AND ART 
 
 model of the Acropolis. This gives a much better idea 
 than any number of maps can do of the Propylaea and 
 the walled sides of the hill. How far any attention can 
 be given to vases and to vase paintings must be a mat- 
 ter for individual judgment. Possibly the school library 
 can own one of the various splendid volumes which deal 
 with the subject and which contain fine reproductions. 
 This field, interesting as it is, is secondary in importance 
 to the sculpture. With Greek art as expressed in the 
 coins the school can do little, though it may be possible 
 sometimes to show some specimens. Possibly the inter- 
 est of a young collector of coins may be made available 
 for encouraging him to a deeper study. In that case 
 Gardner, P., Types of Greek Coins, Cambridge, 1883, 
 will be of valuable service. 
 
 It is the duty of every teacher to settle the propor- 
 tionate value of the subjects presented in the previous 
 TheQuesaon pages for his individual work and the needs 
 of Values. of his pupils. To do this wisely he needs 
 such a careful training for his work as has been outlined 
 above at page 207. He needs a thorough training in 
 the language, for no one can teach a language which he 
 does not know. He needs a broad acquaintance with 
 its hterature, for no one can teach a hterature which he 
 does not feel. He should have a knowledge of the lit- 
 erature and of the social and political organization of 
 his own country, that he may be able to illustrate the 
 life and the thought of an ancient people. He should 
 know the science of language for the sake of being able 
 to illustrate the phenomena of Greek by the more 
 familiar facts of English. A man fully equipped can 
 rise above the petty restrictions of any method, and 
 may say 
 
 GX) TySe icplveK, 'H/3a«\et9, KeCvrj S' e^w. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 DEAUEKS IN PHOTOGEAPHS, PRINTS, AND CASTS. 
 
 For convenience a list is here given of dealers in 
 photographs, prints, and plaster casts of subjects con- 
 nected with Grecian and Roman antiquity. 
 
 I. Addresses of Dealers in Photograpbs and Prints. 
 
 New York. 
 
 The Witter Co., 503 Fifth Avenue. 
 
 The Berlin Photographic Co., 14 East 23d Street. 
 
 Braun & Co., 256 Fifth Avenue. 
 
 Hegger, Inc., 37 and 39 East 28th Street. 
 
 George Busse, 12 West 28 th Street. 
 
 Boston. 
 
 Soule Art Publishing Co., 500-510 Dudley Street. 
 A. W. Elson & Co., 146 Oliver Street. 
 
 Malden, Mass. 
 
 The Perry Pictures Co. This firm publishes the Perry 
 Prints at one cent each, for twenty-five or more ; size 
 5^ X 8 inches. 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 Thompson Publishing Co., Publishers of The Blue Prints 
 at one cent each. The same firm publishes also a 
 great variety of larger photographs. 
 
332 APPENDIX 
 
 n. Addresses of Dealers in Plaster Casts of Works of Architecture 
 and Sculpture. 
 
 Boston. P. P. Caproni & Bro., 1914-1920 Washington Street. 
 
 The firms in the above Hsts will furnish catalogues or 
 any desired information concerning their stock upon 
 application. 
 
 A Suggested Iiist of Photographs of Boman Subjects. 
 
 1. The Roman Forum. 
 
 2. The Arch of Constantine 
 
 3. The Column of Trajan. 
 
 4. The Cloaca Maxima. 
 
 5. The Atrium Vestae. 
 
 6. Portrait of Vestal Virgin. 
 
 7. Pantheon — Exterior and Interior Views. 
 
 8. Reliefs from Arch of Titus. 
 
 9. View of Excavations at Pompeii. 
 
 10. A Street in Pompeii. 
 
 11. The House of Pansa. 
 
 12. House of the Tragic Poet. 
 
 13. Mosaic of ' Cave Canem.' 
 
 14. Pompeian Wall Painting. 
 
 15. The Baths of Caracalla. 
 
 16. The Aqueducts Claudia and Anio Novus. 
 
 17. The Coliseum — Exterior and Interior Views. 
 
 18. The Mausoleum of Hadrian. 
 
 19. Tomb of Caecilia Metella. 
 
 20. A Columbarium. 
 
 For a list of photographs of Greek Subjects the reader 
 is referred to the excellent selection by Professor F. B. 
 Tarbell, mentioned on page 322. 
 
Index 
 
 Note. — The indexes for both parts of this work have been consoli- 
 dated for convenience of reference. Items which refer particularly to 
 either the Latin or Greek sections, and are not self-explanatory, are 
 indicated by the abbreviations " ZaA," " Rom." or " Gr." 
 
 Ability to read {Gr.), 219. 
 
 Accent (Gr.\, 232. 
 
 ^Esthetic training from study of 
 Latin, 34. 
 
 Alexander the Great, 318. 
 
 Anabasis : Book V., 266 ; omis- 
 sions in reading, 260 ; opening 
 sections of, 259; "simplified," 
 254. 
 
 Analysis, as a method of study, 
 should not be employed alone 
 (ZaA), 134. 
 
 Antiquities, manuals of, 198. 
 
 Archaeology, manuals of {Lat.), 199. 
 
 Art (Gr.), 326; illustrations of, 
 328. 
 
 Articulation of sentences ( Gr.),'20i. 
 
 Ascham, Roger, on Latin composi- 
 tion, 167. 
 
 Athens : plan of, 313 ; size of, 312. 
 
 Athens and Sparta, 316. 
 
 Bain, Alexander, his objections to 
 
 the study of Latin, 37 ff. 
 Barrie, J. M., the essay contest 
 
 from " Sentimental Tommy," 15. 
 Beginner's book {Zai.), 51 ff. 
 Beginning lessons (Lat.), 50 ff. ; 
 
 (Gr.), 240-255. 
 Bibliographies: {Lat.), 2or ; (Gr.), 
 
 240, 256, 269, 271, 298, 308, 319, 
 
 321. 
 
 Books for the library of the second- 
 ary school (Lat.), 197 ff. 
 
 Boyesen, H. H., educative value 
 of Latin and modern languages 
 compared, 31. 
 
 Bruneti^re, M. Ferdinand, on the 
 educative value of the modern 
 languages as compared with 
 Latin, 30 f. 
 
 Burgess, Isaac, on the educative 
 value of translation, 20. 
 
 CiESAE : or Nepos as first author, 
 HI ff . ; points to be emphasized 
 in studying this author, 150 ff. 
 
 Casts, 201. 
 
 Change in language, 227. 
 
 Cicero: points of importance in 
 the study of this author, 152 ff. ; 
 to precede or follow Virgil, 1 19. 
 
 Clauses, joining of (Gr.), 250. 
 
 Collar, W. C. : on Latin composi- 
 tion, 168 ft. ; on the educative 
 value of translation, 20. 
 
 Comparative philology, 195 f. 
 
 Comparative size of places, 312. 
 
 Composition (Gr.), 298-307 ; dis- 
 like for, 298 ; helps in, 305 ; 
 methods in, 301, 306; object of, 
 300; often made too hard, 299. 
 
 Composition (Lat.), 1568. 
 
 Correlatives (Gr.), 259. 
 
334 
 
 INDEX 
 
 De Amicitia, in secondary schools, 
 
 125. 
 De Senectute, in secondary schools, 
 
 125. 
 Dettweiler : his postulates for the 
 
 Latin grammar of to-day, 146 fF. ; 
 
 on the importance of translation, 
 
 19. 
 Difficulties of Latin, 98. 
 Dual, omission of, 243. 
 
 Eclogues, Virgil's, suitable for the 
 
 secondary school, 121 f. 
 Eliot, Pres. C. W., on the essential 
 
 processes involved in education, 
 
 22. 
 Elision, in poetry (Lat.), 188. 
 Enclitics, 234. 
 Etymology (Lat ), 196. 
 Eutropius, 108. 
 Expression, as an educative force 
 
 (Lat.), 26. 
 
 Ffrst declension {Gr.), 245. 
 
 First reading (Lat.), 106. 
 
 Five-year and six-year Latin 
 courses, 124. 
 
 French, its educative value com- 
 pared with Latin, 27 ff. 
 
 Function of language-study, 8. 
 
 Geography: essentials of (Gr.), 
 31 1 ; manuals of, 199. 
 
 German, its educative value com- 
 pared with Latin, 27 ff. 
 
 German teachers, their preparation 
 for their work, 203 ff. 
 
 Grammar (Lat.) : as a logical, his- 
 torical, and aesthetic discipline, 
 13s ff. ; text-books of, scope and 
 character, 141 ff. 
 
 Grammars (Lat.), 197. 
 
 Grammar school, Latin courses in, 
 126. 
 
 Greek elements in English, 223. 
 
 Greeks, their neglect of language- 
 study, 9 f. 
 
 Greek spirit, the, 220. 
 Greenough, Professor, on reading 
 at sight, 86. 
 
 Hale, Professor, on reading at 
 sight (Lat.), 85. 
 
 Harris, W. T., an important reason 
 for studying Latin, 29. 
 
 Herodotus, 265. 
 
 Hidden quantity (Lat.), 69 ff. 
 
 Historical training from study of 
 Latin, 33. 
 
 Histories (Lat.), 199 ff. 
 
 History, Greek : how much can be 
 taught, 313; mythology and, 
 322; periods of, 314-318; who 
 should teach, 309. 
 
 History, Roman, 191 f. 
 
 Homer : Arnold on translating, 
 282 ; as now studied, 296 ; choice 
 of subjects in, 274 ; English ver- 
 sions of, 283 ; Iliad and Odyssey, 
 297 ; in high school, 273 ; inter- 
 pretation of, 278, 281 ; language 
 of, 292 ; reading of text, 274, 
 276 ; selections in reading, 294 ; 
 shortening the Iliad, 295 ; short- 
 ening the Odyssey, 296; trans- 
 lating of, 292. 
 
 Humanistic revival (Lat.), z. 
 
 Ictus, its probable character (Lat.), 
 178 ff. 
 
 Illustrative material (Lat.), 197 ff. 
 
 Imitation, a process of slight edu- 
 cative value, 88. 
 
 Inductive method, 80 ff. 
 
 Institutions, Roman, the import- 
 ance of studying them, 194 f. 
 
 Language-study, its function, 8. 
 
 Latin composition, 156 ff. 
 
 Laurie, on the educative value of 
 
 translation, 20. 
 Lexicons (Lat.), 197. 
 Limitations in study (Gr.), 222. 
 
INDEX 
 
 335 
 
 Lowell, on the importance of trans- 
 lation, i8. 
 Lysias, 265. 
 
 Macaulay and Greek, 220. 
 
 Mackenzie, Principal, educative 
 value of Latin and modern lan- 
 guages compared, 29. 
 
 Madvig, on ictus (Lat.), 186. 
 
 Maps (Gr.), 310; (Rom.), 201. 
 
 Memory, alleged overtraining of, 
 55 ff. 
 
 Methods, their limitations, 211 ff. 
 
 Middle Ages, position of Latin at 
 that time, i. 
 
 Model sentences (Gr.), 249. 
 
 Modem Greece, 319. 
 
 Modern languages, their educative 
 value compared with Latin, 27 ff . 
 
 Mythology, manuals of, 200. 
 
 Mythology {Gr.) : art and, 323 ; 
 history and, 322 ; in English 
 literature, 324; learning of, 325. 
 
 Nepos or Caesar as first author, 
 
 III ff. 
 New Testament (Gr.), 267. 
 Nouns (Gr.), inflection of, 245, 252. 
 
 Objections urged against study 
 of Latin, 35 ff. 
 
 Objects in study (Gr.), 219. 
 
 Observation, as an educative pro- 
 cess (Lat.), 23 f. 
 
 Ovid, 124. 
 
 Parsing (Gr.), 258. 
 Participles, use of (Gr.), 303. 
 Particles, correlative [Gr.), 251, 259. 
 Paton, on the educative value of 
 
 translation, 20. 
 Paulsen, Fr., his objection to the 
 
 study of Latm, 39 ff. 
 Perfect tense (Gr.), 244. 
 Philology, 195 f. 
 Photographs, 201. 
 Plato, 264. 
 
 Preparation of teachers, 202 ff. 
 
 Proclitics, 234. 
 
 Pronouns, demonstrative (Gr.), 304. 
 
 Pronunciation (Gr.), 228-234; con- 
 sonants, 231 ; diphthongs, 230 ; 
 proper names, 234-239; vowels, 
 229 ; Roman, 66 ff. 
 
 Proper names, form of (Gr.), 234- 
 
 239- 
 Prosody (Lat.), 175 ff. 
 Purpose of Latin study, 6 ff. 
 
 Quantity, its importance in read- 
 ing verse (Lat.), 182 ff. 
 
 Reading: aloud (Gr.), 249; first 
 
 lessons in (Gr.), 253; at sight 
 
 (Lot.), 8s ff. 
 Reasoning, as an educative process 
 
 (Lat.), 24. 
 Recitation, work of (Gr.), 257. 
 Recording,.as an educative process 
 
 (Lat.), 24. 
 Renaissance, its significance for 
 
 Latin study, z. 
 Roman history, 191 ff. 
 Roman literature, manuals of, 200. 
 
 Sallust, 123. 
 
 Speech and writing (Gr.), 226, 228. 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, his objections 
 
 to the study of Latin, 35 f. 
 Subjective acquisition of language, 
 
 88. 
 Substitutes for Latin, 45 f. 
 Synonyms, manuals of (Lat.), 197. 
 Syntax, teaching of (Gr.), 247, 
 Synthetic work important (Lat.), 
 
 134- 
 
 Teachers: American, not well 
 trained, 202 fi. ; examination of, 
 in Germany, 202 f., 207 ; their 
 preparation, 202 ff. 
 
 Teaching and examining (Gr.),2^7. 
 
 Topography, manuals of (Rom.), 
 199. 
 
336 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Translation : at sight (La/.), 103 ff. ; 
 
 its educative power, n ff. ; 
 
 Burgess's views, 20; Collar's 
 
 views, 20 ; Dettweiler's views, 19 ; 
 
 Lowell's views, 18; Paton's 
 
 views, 20 ; Shorey's views, 20 f . ; 
 
 versus original composition, 21 f. ; 
 
 should be idiomatic (Lat.), 131. 
 Transliteration (Gr.), 236. 
 
 Verbs ( Gr.) : classification of, 252 ; 
 
 perfect of, 244; the first for 
 
 study, 242. 
 Vernacular : how training in it is 
 
 best attained, 11 f . ; its direct 
 
 study shown to be educationally 
 
 inadequate, 45 f. 
 
 Versification, 176 ff. 
 
 Virgil, points o£ Importance in the 
 
 study of this author, 153 ff. 
 Viri Ranue, 107. 
 Vocabulary, in beginning work 
 
 (Lat), 63. 
 
 Wheeler, Pres. B. I., on educative 
 value of modem languages as 
 compared with Latin and Greek, 
 
 30- 
 
 Words (Gr.): order of, 249, 260, 
 302, 306 ; order kept in translat- 
 ing, 292. 
 
 Writing (Gr), drill in, 245, 246. 
 
 Xenophon, 263.