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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1876)
Tc VlaMctt tn Amiriiun jUltyur $ ?'$$?' homctnu -schools; Hint is, tin .almost com. pleto monopoly ol' the r.urrriculum, with the exception, pcrhnps, of muthcmulics Tho. musty authors of Greece and Home, conhl they revisit the earth toalny and learn how llioir writings havd been the chief subject of study since tlicir titno by tliu most ctvl'izcd nations of the world, would doubtless think that tho gene ral welfare of our planet depended greatly upon their literary effusions. Tho colonists of our country brought with them, as we might expect, substan tially tho same ideas of higher education as prevailed in the mother laud. Our (list colleges, therefore, did not differ much from Oxford and Cambridge. Now much has been done in lato years toward giving other branches of study a fair hearing, but cliiotly by establishing courses ofstudy in which the classics are wholly absent. As usually understood, tht! design of college instruction, when not devoted to special, ties, is to lay the foundations of a liberal and general culture. This would imply a symmetrical curriculum, composed of a variety of branches, and ench receiving a proportionate share of attention. Is this carried out in 'practice, or is a college meruiy a uoimal school for the training of classical professors V Let us sec Upon examining most of our college curriculuins, we find that nearly every term has its measure of both Latin and Greek, accompanied frequently by a math ematical pill Here and there are sand wiched in a few terms of literary and scientific studies, but scarcely enough to vary the monotonous recurrence of the classics. Only a scanty knowledge of the former can be obtaircd in the. limited time nllorded, while if Commencement find one not acquainted with ccry nook and turn of Cicero and Virgil, Plato and Ho- mer, it is certainly not owing to a want of time. The staff of life is justly considered to be bread and butter, but man craves other tilings as well, ami unless gratified to some extcntiwill not thrive on so monotonous a diet. In like manner classloal education is calculated to make one proficient in Latin and Greek, and that only. - Wc claim that the customary (into repent in the study of the classics is excessive. . The lassical writings of Oreceeouid Rome, are in no respect more muritor'Krtiij than hundreds of others, both ancient -iifd mud. cm. We have come to regard them us wonderful because their admirers for for oightccn centuries past have combined to make all their excellencies appear. We master Latin and Greek, but we neg lect English. Tho former are necessary for a proper knowledge of the Utter, but a less1 quantity than i- now proscribed -will amply sutllce for all ordinary purpose. Anglo Saxon, the -round work of our own tongue, is oi quite ah much impor tance as cither, ami is now so admitted -yet it has been greatly neglected. ,,; The complaint is univorsuly raised by outsiders that their sons and daughters in college, icceive but -little that will be oT use to them in the practical affairs of after life. To a considerable extent this is true. We arc well aware of the utilitarian 6piiit of the age, but wo know, too, that tho'tisual four years classic. I drill pro'. esdf little advantage to many p.-rsuts. T-W) 'iJften ' they become mere en! Hired nonenilies.' Now, if a portion cii-,ius time wrrc devoted """' to other brunches of Mudv, it would make the course more ust-t'.il and practical, nnd do much to make the student a moro practical person. A desire te attain this end drives many stirdents nowadays into purely scientific eru:scs ofstudy, in which" they are wholly di-piived of tne benefits of the classics. As there is no middle ground by which the advantages of both scientific and clu.s-icul education may at Uim same time be m aMirably secured, students are induced to pursue nm- or die other extreme, for the sake of obtaining u diploma. Iany rich fields of' lii'vVMig-ition are either ignored , or at best but little more than touched upon, in an 'ordinary' classi cal curriculum. To this it may be replied" ' . "'. Lu$m u?ar'-, i
