122 CLASSICS IN MODERN EDUCATION. 



truth is that cramming' can be killed only by good teaching. 

 Awaken the pupil's interest, make him love his work, and he 

 will never be tempted to cram. And it is easier, after all, to 

 interest pupils in ideas and facts than in grammatical rules and 

 irregular verbs. 



§ II. In fact, the strongest argument in favour of the 

 change which I advocate is that it would revive interest in 

 classical studies. Let a boy once be fired with genuine en- 

 thusiasm for the heroes of Greek and Roman history, let him 

 once through a good translation catch something of the beauty 

 and fascination of Homer or Sophocles, and he will often spon- 

 taneous-ly be led to the study of the language. This seems to 

 me the true educational order in which interest in the language 

 should grow up in the pupil's mind. The predominantly 

 linguistic study, as at present practised in our schools and colleges, 

 is a waste of time and labour. Its educational results are 

 insignificant, compared with the etTort squandered and with the 

 results which might have been obtained by a better method. And 

 only too often the pupil carries away nothing but a deep-rooted 

 disgust. For this reason, too, I haive no sympathy with those 

 who recommend the study of the classical languages merely on 

 the ground of their being a good " mental discipline." The 

 argument degrades the Classics. And, besides, one knows but 

 too well from experience what sort of teaching to expect from 

 those who believe that onlv in grammatical exercises is educa- 

 tional salvation to be found. 



§ 12. There was a time when there was no " modern " side 

 to modern education; when boys spent the bulk of their school- 

 time on Latin and Greek, and learnt next to no science, no modern 

 languages, no history, no geography. None the less they got 

 what, in spite of its one-sidedness, was a good education. For 

 they did so much Latin and Greek that they passed beyond the 

 preliminary stage. They gained sufficient mastery over the' 

 languages to turn out a neat copy of Latin prose in flowing 

 Ciceronian periods, or a set of CTreek verses which would at least 

 scan. They learnt to feel delight in the handling of lan- 

 guage. They required an ear for rhythms and cadences, and the 

 balance of sentences. And the taste thus formed, the keen desire 

 for the right word in the right place, made them also more 

 fastidious about their own mother-tongue, more skilful in its 

 use, more careful of a " good style." ^Moreover, having got 

 beyond the linguistic difficulties over which the beginner stumbles, 

 their attention was set free to take in the thought and substance 

 of ancient literature, add in this contact of young modern minds 

 with ancient wisdom and art there was real and genuine educa- 

 tion. 



§ 13. Those were the ideal days of classical education. They 

 have passed away through the pressure and the claims of 

 " modern " subjects. Room had to be made for these in the 

 curriculum. And rightly so, for it would have been an intoler- 

 able paradox if the scientific achievements of the modern mind 



