The Otago Witness.

Otago Witness, Issue 1161, 28 February 1874, Page 15

The Otago Witness.

DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, FEB. 28.

We are not prepared to express a very decided opinion one way or the other, but we think it is a subject -well worthy of discussion and the most serious consideration, whether or not it is advisable, in our elementary schools, to devote quite as much attention as we do to the teaching of Latin to young children. There are not many children, and perhaps it is as well that there are not, possessed of such precocious intellects as will enable them to grapple with the difficulties of Latin, like John Stuart Mill, at the age of three years. The endeavour to instil children under the age of twelve years with a knowledge of Latin — to make them comprehend Latin grammar, and puzzle out the meaning of a sentence written in Latin, is usually i such an arduous task for the teacher, and the attempt to learn necessitates such a strain upon the immature intellect of the scholar, that we are strongly tempted to ask the question whether, after all, le jeu vaut la chanddk — whether the gain is worth the expense ? We know it has been said occasionally, and notably by a •writer in the liondon Spectator,

that the mere exercising 1 of the intel- , lect, without regard to any other result, such as the acquisition of knowledge, is a sufficient reason for teaching, or endeavouring to teach, the ancient languages. This is an assertion we are somewhat disposed to dispute the correctness of, and are reminded of a saying of the philosopher Locke, " that labour, for labour's sake, is against nature." There is the story, too of the gentleman who once made the following experiment with one of his labouring men. He directed the man's attention to a heap of paving-stones, and told him to fill his barrow with stones and empty it at another place some thirty yards off, and so go on till he had moved the heap of stones from one place to the other ; and as soon as he had done that, to turn about, and wheel all the stones back to where they were before ; and so go on for the whole day, wheeling backwards and forwards. The man set to work cheerfully at first, but before long he got so utterly disgusted with his work, that he absolutely refused to continue it. This disgust was aaused by the man seeing no motive or reason for the work. During the time of the Manchester cotton famine, -when the mill hands were off work, ' and without occupation, being supported by charity, schools were established by some benevolent people for the teaching of such of the adult men and women as were uneducated. It is said these grown-up people made much, more progress with their lessons than children usually do. One reason of this probably was, that these older people perceived more clearly than children do the value of education, and therefore had a stronger motive for work. There can be no doubt that the more interest a man or a child feels in certain work, the more willingly the work will be undertaken, and the more it will be dona with a will. It is better a man should endeavour to develop his muscles by gymnastic exercises than not at all; but strength is more advantageously and more naturally gained by joining in manly sports and pastimes, or in undertaking field or navvy work, than it is by gymnastics. When gymnasticß are taught in classes, there is some emulation excited ; but usually a man exerts himself more with a will, when engaged in outdoor athletic sports, or when at work with plough, shovel, or axe, than he does when handling the dumbbells, or clubß, merely to develope his muscles. We have considerably more faith, however, in the benefit to be derived from bodily organisation, than we have in the benefit to be derived from mental gymnastics. It is of course often difficult to give children an interest in their mental work, or to get them to labour at their lessons from any other motive than that of obedience; but the more interest we can manage to give them in their work, the more progress we may expect. Ib is certainly a difficult matter in general cases to give a child an interest in learning Latin. An older person who has a strong desire to read the great ancient authors in the original, may work at grammar and dictionary with avidity, and make proportionate progress. When a work is i begun, it should be begun with the intention of finishing 1 it. It is questionable whether the acquisition of a mere smattering of Latin, and the ability to give or comprehend an occasional Latin quotation, is worth the outlay of much toil and trouble. If a man begins to learn Latin, he should propose to himself not to cease to labour afc it till he can read the pages of the work of the delightful historian Livy, with almost as much ease as he can road an English, book. It has been said, however, that learning Latin gives facility of expression in speaking or writing English. Probably much reading of English books, and the frequent practice of English composition, will give as much facility as is usually required, though doubtless a knowledge of the ancient and foreign languages may also give fluency of expression and richness of diction. Mr John Bright is not a University man, and is said to have never learned either Latin or Greek, Any one who has listened to one of Mr Brlqht's speeches— to an

oration which, instead of requiring an auditor to fix his attention on what the speaker is saying, arrests the attention of the listener, and carries it involuntarily along upon a stream of eloquence, will feel sure that any man possessed of a thorough acquaintance with English has quite a suificient knowledge ol language to enable him to become a great orator.