THE PROBLEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 91 



to base a definite opinion of the possibilities of this school on the work 

 hitherto done under circumstances so very discouraging. Even now 

 the gymnasium is favored with privileges which are as yet denied to 

 the Realschule, as no graduate of the latter is admitted to the depart- 

 ments of law and medicine, at least not in Prussia. That the com- 

 paratively few graduates of the Realschule have, nevertheless, made a 

 fine and honorable record for themselves is an undeniable fact. It is 

 unnecessary, however, to enter into a defense of that school, as it has 

 not been in existence long enough, at least as a school that aimed to 

 prepare for the university, to show what it will be able to do when 

 once the prejudices now raised against it shall have disappeared. 



The German university requires of its candidates for the degree 

 of M. D. such a familiarity with Greek as will enable the students to 

 read Galen in the original ; but do the medical students really consult 

 Galen in the original, either at the university or in after-life ? I have 

 been at the pains to gain some proofs of this laudable practice, but 

 thus far in vain. The all but unanimous testimony is that the medi- 

 cal student's greatest desire, next to knowing the practical details of 

 his profession, is to be able to read the works of the best English and 

 French authorities, and especially the periodicals that bear on medical 

 and kindred subjects. But English is not, as a rule, taught in the 

 university, nor is it one of the required studies of the gymnasium, and 

 the immense amount of labor the student has to perform makes it im- 

 possible for him to do enough for the study by private effort. And, 

 then, the prejudice against so " easy " a language ! This prejudice, the 

 result of the peculiar training of the college, is one that college-men 

 entertain like a dogma, and which they never tire of impressing on 

 the student.* The acutest critic of France, Sainte-Beuve, incident- 

 ally alluded to this prejudice in his defense of Racine's masterpiece, 

 " Athalie," He said : *' Great lovers and judges of antiquity, hut icho 

 are not, perhaps, as great judges of the French beauties of ' Athalie,'' 

 maintain that Sophocles (in his ' Antigone ') is superior. ... I listen, 

 and let them talk (J''ecoicte, et je laisse dire). J envy those who are 

 possibly capable of judging xcith equal correctness {au m^me degre) 

 of the two kinds of beauties,''^ etc. The modesty of the remark, com- 

 ing from one who was himself no mean judge of antiquity, ought to 

 inspire other critics with a reasonable difiidence when about to pass 

 judgment on the difficulties of other languages. One may learn a 

 dozen languages moderately well in less time than it takes to learn a 

 single one well. 



On the Continent of Europe one may meet with many illustrations 



* If the difficulties of a language are its chief recommendations as a study for " disci- 

 pline," the introduction of improved methods of teaching, by enabling the student to 

 master these difficulties by an " easy grade," would in so far destroy their value. For a 

 curious illustration of this prejudice:, see a recent article on " Ancient Languages " in the 

 " Bibliotheca Sacra." 



