a scintilla of literary appreciation. It is sometimes difficult for the critic to realize that the teaching of Latin and Greek has shared in the educational progress of the last half-century; that the good classical teacher of today is not merely the teacher of a language but also, so far as time and opportunity permit, the interpreter of a civilization of which the language is only one manifestation; and that the aim of instruction in the ancient classics is not merely to secure the best results of close and exact language study but also to inspire an appreciation of literature and, in a word, "to accumulate upon the present age the influence of all that was best and greatest in the life of the past." This aim is sometimes lost sight of by teachers of good ability who have had an inadequate or one-sided preparation, and even by young Doctors of Philosophy whose perspective has been warped by concentration of study upon one part of a great field; but our classical teaching as a whole is directed toward high ideals, and will not fall short of its opportunities. No study is more interesting to students of any age than Latin and Greek when properly taught.

That so large a proportion of our teachers of the classics are ill prepared is not more the fault of the teacher than of the system. So long as the compensation of the teacher remains as low as at present in most schools and many colleges, so long as the tenure of positions in public high schools is subject to the uncertainty of an annual reappointment, so long, finally, as administrative officers in passing upon the fitness of candidates frequently attach little weight to the range and quality of scholastic attainments, it may be expected that the average of preparation for classical teaching, which involves a long and expensive course of study for him who wishes the

best, will be raised but slowly. The need of exacting a higher standard of preparation in the selection of teachers for secondary schools is in some places already realized; and there are hopeful indications of a more generous financial support.

In order to remedy our failure as a nation to utilize Latin and Greek as we should in our educational system it will be necessary first of all to extend the study of Latin downward so that it may be pursued by students for two or three years before the present high-school age; the study of Latin should be commenced in the seventh or sixth grade. How this result may be brought about is a question of educational administration which should occasion no great difficulty in a well-organized system of schools. Such an extension of the Latin course would make it possible to accomplish results more nearly comparable with those obtained in the secondary schools of European countries, and so would effect a saving of time at the upper end of the course. Greek should be commenced at least as early as the second year of the high school; but it is difficult to see how this study can make much progress, at least in the West, until the school authorities are more disposed to allow small classes to be formed in the subject and teachers of Latin manifest a warmer interest in the promotion of Greek studies. The immediate future of Greek is largely in the hands of teachers of Latin, who should spare no effort to arouse interest in Greek and form classes in the subject.

The second remedy lies in such a readjustment of the curriculum in colleges having a loose elective system as shall bring a much larger number of students into contact with classical studies in the earlier part of their course.

In the third place, the utilization of the classics in preparation for professional study should be made sure by according to them a fuller recognition in the requirements for admission to professional schools and by making them a fixed requirement in combined literary and professional courses.

It is sometimes said that our educational system is justified by its product, and that the number of successful men among us is sufficient evidence of its efficiency. Such a generalization makes no account of the fact that there are many other elements which enter into the problem besides the training of the schools. Owing to the opportunities afforded by the conditions peculiar to a new and rich country, many men have risen to prominence and affluence practically without educational advantages, but that does not disprove the value of education; on the other hand, it is possible for a man to become successful not on account of his education but in spite of it. The problem is to bring each life into vital contact with the knowledge, and subject it to the training, that will best fit it for living happily and well, rendering its due service to society; in the light of both theoretical considerations and experiences, we may safely assert for Latin and Greek a much more important place in the educational process than they have in our country at the present time.

CHAPTER IV

THE NATURE OF CULTURE STUDIES

R. M. WENLEY

University of Michigan

For the purposes of The Schoolmasters' Club, the phrase "culture studies" may be taken, fairly enough, in the restricted sense of Greek and Latin. The classical languages happen to lie within the field of practical politics; moreover, they offer debatable territory, not as yet delimitated. While, therefore, I should prefer to deal with the larger aspects of the subject, as being most germane to my own daily work, I propose, in the present connection, to attempt this, the chosen battle ground of teachers, although disclaiming all responsibility for the choice. I find it waiting, ready-made, so to speak.

At the outset, I am going to render a confession, justified by the nature of the circumstances. As matters now stand in the realm of investigation which I have the honor to represent, I cannot appear either as a special pleader for culture studies or as their advocatus diaboli. For philosophy is interwoven inextricably with the positive sciences on one side, with culture studies on another. I fail to see, for instance, how a philosopher can succeed in metaphysics today apart from close touch with physical and biological science; but, equally, I fail to see how he can succeed in ethics, aesthetics, or philosophy of religion if he have little Latin and less Greek, or if he be blind to the harvest reaped by archaeology and historical criticism, by anthropology and sociology. The psychologist who is guiltless of physiology cannot realize the significance

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of his subject, while the moralist who lacks first-hand grip upon Plato, Aristotle, and the influence of the Stoics upon Roman law, to mention naught else, must miss many factors essential to his Wissenschaft. Accordingly, I come before you rather to proffer some suggestions than to formulate a brief. I shall try to show what must be said for culture studies (in the narrower sense of the classics), just as, in a different connection, before a different audience, I might attempt to accomplish the same task for other incidentals of a curriculum.

Beyond dispute, much difficulty and no little misconception have been caused by the accomplished facts incident to our intellectual movements during the last two generations. Culture studies were passing through a period of transition which, in one way, might be termed a time of trial. As means of education, they used to enjoy a monopoly; the claims of other disciplines have met, are meeting still, with wide recognition. And, as a contemporaneous, nay, disturbing event, culture studies themselves have undergone profound transformation. Now, an age of transition, no matter when, breeds uncertainty, and confronts us with some, perhaps many, antagonistic or mutually exclusive opinions, and not one of them-such is the temper of these epochs-gains mastery, because an accepted standard never appears. "We do not now set out to solve the world at a stroke, as men did in the days when thought was young." The focus necessary to decisive judgment belongs to the future. Consequently, too many "make a stab at it," and miss the point sadly. Or, to be quite plain, the multiplication of nonsense, of the nonsense always incident to immature reflection, has bemused not a few. A tincture of halftruth, dyed in the wool, conceals all too successfully the