652 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Any native of Asia or of Egypt or of the Soudan, " not being of 

 European or American parentage," may obtain permission to 

 offer English as a substitute for either Latin or Greek and 

 Sanskrit or Arabic or Persian or Pali or Classical Chinese for 

 the other. Yet it is a chief claim of the compulsory Grecians 

 that the civilisation, the " life," for which Oxford prepares men, 

 is grounded in that of Greece and Rome and cannot be under- 

 stood or practised without the " good general education " 

 attested by Smalls Greek. But what becomes of this argument, 

 when any genuine native of Asia or parts of Africa can be 

 admitted to the Oxford degree courses in classics or chemistry or 

 theology on mere proof of such acquaintance with elementary 

 Sanskrit or Classical Chinese " as to test especially his know- 

 ledge of the grammar and language " ? The formula of course 

 is closely modelled on that which regulates Smalls Greek. In 

 Smalls Pali the " set book " fills just 112 pages and is therefore 

 commensurate with those prescribed in Greek. In English the 

 " set books " are The Merchant of Venice, Woodstock and The 

 Talisman and (for a wonder) " a knowledge of the subject- 

 matter " is required, a refinement which does not appear in any 

 other part of Responsions. The pedantry with which this 

 exception is set out is only equalled by its futility. For exacting 

 proficiency in Greek there was at least the pretext of an ancient 

 (if obsolete) reality : and no one expects an institution so 

 historical as Oxford to keep its requirements punctually up to 

 date. But when did any one, in Asia or in Bedlam, learn 

 Chemistry or study English Literature or even read Greats 

 with the linguistic aid of Classical Chinese ? What sweet 

 effect on the character of a native of the Soudan, not being of 

 British or American parentage, have 112 pages of Smalls Pali 

 — or Arabic either — offered " to test especially his knowledge of 

 the grammar and language " ? 



Existing Oxford Courses which require no Greek 



The other unconsidered fact to which I have referred is that 

 with one exception it is only for admission to courses leading to 

 the B.A. degree that Oxford has ever required or appeared to 

 require Compulsory Greek at all ; and that the B.A. degree, 

 though it was once the only formal certificate of proficiency 

 outside the Professional Faculties, Theology, Medicine and Law, 



