272 



THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



bridge, actually to commit to memory 

 the portions of Greek set, and to go 

 through the examination successfully 

 after two or tbree months' hard grind- 

 ing, without obtaining the shadow of 

 an idea of Greek grammar even, to say 

 nothing of Greek literature or history ! 

 Of course, no sane man would maintain 

 that in the case of men who actually 

 did this any such advantage in the way 

 of culture and mental discipline could 

 accrue, as is claimed for the study of 

 Greek in general. 



It is very curious to compare the 

 views of the adherents of compulso- 

 ry Greek in Germany, England, and 

 America. They all agree in maintaining 

 that the course of required Greek in 

 their respective countries accomplished 

 wonders in the way of education. 

 "When we compare, however, what is 

 actually required for graduation in a 

 German gymnasium, for example, in 

 the A. B. course at Cambridge, and in 

 an A. B. course in any American col- 

 lege of good standing, we" find that the 

 course in Germany requires fully six 

 years of earnest study ; in America at 

 least four or four and a half; and in 

 England riot over two or three at the 

 very most. The German apologist for 

 Greek would maintain, however, that 

 the small amount required in America 

 or England is not worth a rush (as in- 

 deed some of them have said in answer 

 to a proposition to diminish the amount 

 of Greek required to something like the 

 American or English standard, and that 

 they had better cut it out altogether 

 rather than treat it in such a "step- 

 motherly " way) ; the American claims 

 that the small amount given in Eng- 

 land is of little or no value, and insists 

 that the present requirements in Amer- 

 ica shall not be cut down. 



Outsiders can hardly be blamed for 

 coming to the conclusion that the Ger- 

 mans are right, and that we should 

 either require enough to make it worth 

 the while, or else cut it out altogether 

 from the list of required studies. As 



it is not at all likely that the amount 

 required will ever be increased, the 

 only thing to do is to get rid of that 

 little which according to the most com- 

 petent judges is worth nothing at all. 



We would not be misunderstood, or 

 have opinions ascribed to us which we 

 do not hold. We do not desire to at- 

 tack the study of Greek or the policy 

 of offering the most ample facilities for 

 its pursuit. On the contrary, we con- 

 sider that from no branch of study can 

 one whose tastes lie in that direction 

 derive more benefit in the years before 

 he takes up special lines of work than 

 from Greek. But we can not disre- 

 gard the fact that such pupils are usu- 

 ally only one or two among a large 

 class who are looking forward to some 

 higher course of instruction, who suc- 

 ceed in accomplishing more than mere- 

 ly to drag through the prescribed 

 course. "We believe that many stu- 

 dents, who might be capable of showing 

 marked talents in other directions have 

 been deterred from advancing to high- 

 er courses of instruction by the fact 

 that Greek lay in the way. In schools 

 dominated by the classical spirit, every 

 sort of talent is measured by its ability 

 to make grade in the classics. All who 

 can not come up to this standard are 

 made to feel that they are considered 

 inferior students. They are " specials," 

 or "partials," or "generals," or some- 

 thing else, which implies that they are 

 not so good as the regular classical 

 students. We can not but think that 

 this fact has lain at the bottom of the 

 failure of many a one in the past, who 

 under a different system would have 

 been quickened to a new intellectual 

 life and raised into a higher sphere of 

 usefulness. 



The notion that liberal views of life, 

 wide intellectual sympathies, a broad 

 humanity in a word, that all those 

 qualities that should distinguish a gen- 

 tleman and a scholar from his opposite 

 are the exclusive products of one line 

 of studies, may be, we think, properly 



