636 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



minds equally constituted for science, and equally incapable of taking 

 up two classical languages ? Should this be granted, the next question 

 is, Ought these two classes of minds to be treated as equal in rights and 

 privileges ? The upholders of the present system say, No. The lan- 

 guage-mind is the true aristocrat ; the science-mind is an inferior cre- 

 ation. Degrees and privileges are for the man that can score lan- 

 guages, with never so little science ; outer darkness is assigned to the 

 man whose forte is science alone. But a war of caste in education is 

 an unseemly thing ; and, after all the leveling operations that we have 

 passed through, it is not likely that this distinction will be long pre- 

 served. 



The modern side, as at present constituted, still retains Latin. 

 There is a considerable strength of feeling in favor of that language 

 for all kinds of people ; it is thought to be a proper appendage of the 

 lay professions ; and there is a widespread opinion in favor of its 

 utility for English. So much is this the case, that the modern-siders 

 are at present quite willing to come under a pledge to keep up Latin, 

 and to pass in it with a view to the university. In fact, the schools 

 find this for the present the most convenient arrangement. It is easier 

 to supply teaching in Latin than in a modern language, or in most 

 other things ; and, while Latin continues to be held in respect, it will 

 remain untouched. Yet the quantity of time occupied by it, with so 

 little result, must ultimately force a departure from the present cur- 

 riculum. The real destination of the modern side is to be modern 

 throughout. It should not be rigorously tied down even to a certain 

 number of modern languages. English and one other language ought 

 to be quite enough ; and the choice should be free. On this footing, 

 the modern side ought to have its place in the schools as the coequal 

 of classics ; it would be the natural precursor of the modernized alter- 

 natives in the universities ; those where knowledge subjects predomi- 

 nate. 



The proposal to give an inferior degree to a curriculum that ex- 

 cludes Greek should, in my judgment, be simply declined. It is, how- 

 ever, a matter of opinion whether, in point of tactics, the modern 

 party did not do well to accept this as an installment in the mean time. 

 The Oxford offer, as I understand it, is so far liberal, that the new 

 degree is to rank equal in privileges with the old, although inferior in 

 prestige. In Scotland, the degree conceded by the classical party to 

 a Greekless education was worthless, and was offered for that very 

 reason.* 



Among the adherents of classics, Professor Blackie is distinguished 

 for surrendering their study in the case of those that can not profit by 

 them. lie believes that with a free alternative, such as the thorough 

 bifurcation into two sides would give, they would still hold their 



* One possible consequence of the new Natural Science Degree may be, that the public 

 will turn to it with favor, while the old one sinks into discredit. 



