164 
BULLETIN OF DENISON UNIVERSITY. 
there is no ancient testimony of any weight, in many there is no an- 
cient testimony at all. In some, the strong probability is that the 
vowel was long ; in others, that it was short ; in others, the chances are 
about equal. To say that we may call such vowels short unless it is 
certain that they are long, is an easy way of evading the difficulty ; but 
it is hardly satisfactory to the enquiring student who is resolved to 
speak just as Cicero did. To direct him to pronounce them long 
when they are probably long, and short when they are probably short, 
is to impose on him a burden of investigation and decision from which 
the teacher himself might shrink. To pronounce without regard to 
quantity, above all to speak that astounding mixture of Roman and 
English (not unfrequently with a dash of the German) which so gen- 
erally usurps the name of Roman, is a libel on a noble language, and 
ought to be odious to all who have any respect for either Latin or En- 
glish. 
I have spoken of the English method of pronouncing Latin as 
natural to the English-speaking student ; and so it is, for it attempts to 
pronounce the words according to the analogy of the Latin element 
in English. Yet even this method is difficult of perfect attainment : 
for the words of Latin origin in English, though much less irregular in 
spelling and pronunciation than the Saxon, words, are still far from 
regular; and a pronunciation of Latin after their analogy must exhibit 
corresponding inconsistencies. Thus s, which with the Romans had 
probably always the same sound, has in our pronunciation one sound 
in seco^ another in rosa^ a third in Asia^ a fourth in fusio, and is silent 
in, scientia ; and, though the student would perhaps spontaneously pro- 
nounce these particular words correctly on account of the similar 
words in English, yet numerous cases arise where the direction to 
‘‘pronounce as you would if it were an English word” is not at all 
satisfactory, since there may be no common English word similar to 
the one in question {e, g. Phthia, sibi), or the several English words 
similar to it may not all be pronounced alike {e. g. mfium, cf. vice, 
vicious; facies^ cf. face, facial), or the similar English word may be 
