CLASSICS AND MODERN LANGUAGE TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6114, 14 September 1881, Page 3

CLASSICS AND MODERN LANGUAGE TO THE EDITOR.

Sir,-You state, in jour leader of to-day, ''that amongst tho languages it is) acknowledged on all hands I that the synthetic tongues, such as Latin mid (Jrce);, afford a mucn better muntal gymnasium than analytical langu£,g:.fl, like French and Gennau." So far as experience ha^ haul attainable, a* I said in a former letter, I do not hesitate to affirm, insofar asi thorough " drilling" in all the deirartmsnts of grammar tends to sharpen the faculties, to liif the attous tion, to strengthen the memory, or to produce any other intellectual advantage, the result would follow, in equally able hands, whether tho subject language bo French or Latin, Greek or German. I havo myoc heard any negative opinion on this subject which v>'CLB not opposed alike to reason and to fact.

Modern bnginfjcs, natur.il science, literature, and history hav<j'in'Ei;glimd, within the experiences of the present generation, assumed an importance whicfc has hitherto Leon denied them, and the aotivo development of the ago haa led to the?e subjects being treated and taught in afar more comprehensive and practical manner. Tbiß new expansion Iwa to somo degrco necessitated a contraction in other branches of learning, though tho additional requirements of education fcaye in a great measure been met by tho restless and absorbent spirit which characterises our century. The slackening o? the intellectual strain has naturally takou place, principally in the direction ol tho classics. The number of studeftts who pan afford to supply the time and labour to Latin and Greek which were devoted to those subjects by the majority upder the old curriculum, is becoming daily more limited, Oi course an intimate and Bcholarllkc knowledge ot the classics, together with a practical acquaintance with tho subjects or sciences which it is the duty of modern education Jo introduce and systematise, still is the beau ideal of a thorough education; but the necessity for embarklDg early in the conflict of life, or deflpioncy of talent for such coinprehentlyp training rondeja this ideal attainablo only by a few at'Homs> and, ) venture to aay, by none in New Zealand.''

But the study of modern languages and htcrature is that branch of modern education to which it is desirable tlmt attention should now be directed. Under the term of the study of nioduni languages is naturally included the all-important study of English and English literature, a branch of education which waa of old liable to be almost entirely neglected, but which ij now forcinir its way into nearly all British sclioola, and assuming a just importance in examinations for all appointiuoiila and professions. Translation from a foreign language is one efficacious means of teaching English expression, and the habit of reading extensively in a foreign language ensures to the intelligent mind an appreciation of minute excellencies ; because, however extensive our knowledge of our own language may be, we always read a lanto that in which we read one in which we do think, and pass less hastily over words and phrases which may be instructive or beautiful. "In the' process of oioro careful cultivation of French, the English language might be used up, and all its terms explained ; whereas it is impossible to use it up in translation from Greek and Latin." Besides, the literature of France is the master literature of modern Kuropo. From Franco came the modern forms of literary expression. It was France that made the necessary experiments in epic, romance, lay, lyric, and story or fabliau. Her literature, like that of Greece, lus been regularly evolved through what appear to be the natural and normal stages, and, like the literature of Greece, that of .France is under few obligations to contemporary nations. It was France that set the example ; the rest of Europe followed. Thus the study of French, " though merely a dialect of Latin," ia perhaps the most systematic and the most valuable for literary training.—l am, &c, A Teacher.

September 12th,