332 Report on a Course of Liberal Education. 



ciples by which Uterary merit is judged, is a knowledge of 

 the Henriade more practical than a knowledge of the Iliad ? 

 How is the former to qualify its possesser to act in the lite- 

 rary world in a manner more advantageous than the latter? 

 Do we find that by critics of eminence, Voltaire as a poet 

 has a higher place assigned him than Homer, or that they 

 consider him as a model to be more carefully studied and im- 

 itated? Or to make the inquiry more general; m order to 

 understand the true spirit and genius of Enghsh litera- 

 ture, — which is of the greatest practical use, the literature 

 of France, or the literature of Greece and Rome ? The most 

 superficial acquaintance with the principal authors in our 

 language, is sufficient to excite wonder, that such questions 

 should be seriously asked. 



If the new course proposed, considered as an introduction 

 lo a knowledge of general literature, is altogether inferior to 

 the old, and far less practical in its character, — it will be 

 found not less deficient for the purposes of mental discipline. 

 To acquire the knowledge of any of the modern languages 

 of Europe, is chiefly an effort of memory. The general 

 structure of these languages is much the same as that of our 

 own. The few idiomatical differences, are made familiar 

 with little labor ; nor is there the same necessity of accurate 

 comparison and discrimination, as in studying the classic wri- 

 ters of Greece and Rome. To establish this truth, let a page 

 of Voltaire be compared with a page of Tacitus. 



Nor is this course of education which excludes ancient lit- 

 erature, less objectionable as the foundation of professional 

 study. The student who has limited himself to French, 

 Italian and Spanish, is very imperfectly prepared to com- 

 mence a course of either divinity or law. He knows less of 

 the literature of his own country, than if he had been edu- 

 cated in the old method ; the faculties of his mind have been 

 brought into less vigorous exercise ; and the sources of the 

 knowledge which he is now to acquire, are less accessible. 

 If it is said, that the course of exclusive modern literature is 

 intended for those who are not designed for professional 

 life ; the reply is, that tlje number of those who obtain a lib- 

 eral education, without at first deciding whether they shall 

 be professional men or not, is far from inconsiderable. Many, 

 who originally suppose their minds determined on this sub- 

 ject, alter their determinations from circumstances, which 

 they could not foresee. Adopt the course proposed, and 



