EDGAR EVERHART—THE EDUCATIONAL NEED OF THE SOUTH. 29 
abolishing of Latin and Greek from the curriculum of our studies. It 
means simply that these two studies as an intellectual training should 
not be considered of more value than others. 
One of the arguments adduced for the necessity of the study of these 
languages is that thereby one can become acquainted with the deriva¬ 
tion of words and also with their meaning. Especially is it said to be 
of importance to the scientific man, whose whole vocabulary is made 
up of words derived from the Latin or the Greek. This has always 
appeared to me to be a very puerile argument, from the fact that a man 
can look up a derivation in an English dictionary and derive more in¬ 
struction therefrom than if he had the meaning of the word already in 
his mind. Besides, scientific terms have derived meanings which bear 
no relation to the meaning of the original word. For example, what 
help is it to a chemist to know that eudiometer is derived from eudia, 
fair weather, and metron, a measure, or that barometer is from barus, 
heavy, and metron, measure? Neither translation offers us the faint¬ 
est inkling of what the instruments really are. 
Again, we are told that the study of these two languages will im¬ 
prove our English. I for one must confess that it is incomprehensible 
how languages so dissimilar in every respect can aid us in our writing 
of English. 
Again, we are told that the beauty of these languages will more than 
repay one for his labor in acquiring them. The beauty in thought 
may be there, it is true, but a translation will give that just as well; 
and as far as beauty of expression goes, can anyone who is unable' to 
think, or at least to speak, in a language, honestly tell whether or not 
an expression in that language is beautiful? 
For the philologist a knowledge of these languages is essential. For 
others, let them be studied or not as one’s choice inclines one. Tra¬ 
dition has much to do with our lives, and both Latin and Greek will 
be studied long after it has become recognized that neither is an essen¬ 
tial to education. But let us dispense with such considerations. I be¬ 
lieve that we can regard the whole question from a higher standpoint. 
There are two aims in life than which nothing is nobler—they are 
the search after truth and the doing good to our fellow-men. It has 
always struck me that mere learning, however much it may benefit 
one’s mind, is selfish and undesirable if it be useless for others. On 
the contrary, if the acquisition of knowledge can produce anything 
that will benefit the world, even in the slightest degree, the one who 
acquires that knowledge and proclaims it is more to be admired and re¬ 
spected than the possessor of all the useless lore ever known. For 
such aims as just mentioned the sciences present the most favorable 
opportunities. There is not one that does not present numberless op¬ 
portunities for discoveries of facts or phenomena applicable to the 
necessities of man. There is not one of them that does not demand of 
