which merely prove that fresh experiments are necessary. It was the only school in which the teachers had liberty to work according to their own methods and schemes, and where they were in free communication both among themselves and with all learned men throughout Germany." C. The Humanists DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS.-It is now time to consider the humanistic movement of the eighteenth century, which made the study of classical antiquity the basis of all culture. It was a reaction in part against the ecclesiasticism which fostered the ancient languages only for the sake of theology, and in part against the realistic school represented by Comenius, Rousseau, and especially the Philanthropinists. The distinguishing characteristic of the humanists is the prominence which they give to Latin and Greek. These languages are made the basis of education; and the attempt is made to justify this prominence by their value as a means of culture, and also as studies of practical utility. It is maintained that the study of the ancient languages is unequaled in disciplinary worth, and that the literatures of Greece and Rome contain incomparable models of style. Hence, the study of Latin and Greek gives strength to the faculties and cultivation to the taste. It is further claimed that the study of Latin and Greek possesses great practical worth, inasmuch as it furnishes a valuable acquaintance with English etymology and general grammar, leads to a vast storehouse of knowledge, and gives a better understanding of the present, which has its roots in the past. The humanists are unsympathetic with the present; they depreciate the science, literature, and culture of modern times, and scarcely allow to Christian civilization any superiority over that of paganism in literary productions. SCHMIDT'S SUMMARY.-The fundamental principles of the humanists have been given by Karl Schmidt: "1. The ancient languages are the foundation of all true culture; a knowledge of them makes the scholar; hence they must lie at the basis of all instruction, especially in the higher education. In itself considered, the study of language is a means of mental culture, and hence has disciplinary value. But it is also related to all departments of human learning. Greek and Latin writings are the sources of all learning, and whoever would go to the fountain-head must be acquainted with these languages. The original documents of religion, Roman jurisprudence, the correct principles of medicine, philosophy, the principles and examples of rhetoric and poetry, history-all have come to us from Greece and Rome. . . . 2. The study of grammar must precede that of philosophy, history, æsthetics. Grammar is necessary to a thorough knowledge of language. The method used in teaching the modern languages does not suit with the ancient languages. A dead language is well spoken only by a few. This ability is far from being possessed by all good philologians. . . . 3. A too early pursuit of the natural sciences is unfavorable to a thorough acquisition of languages, for the time given to the latter must be brief and dependent-adequate studies in them being deferred to riper years. The languages belong to the schools, the sciences to the universities. 4. It is a mistake to suppose that the study of the ancient languages is hurtful to practical knowledge. The broadest scholars have the greatest respect for the ancients. It is not easy to name, in any nation, a distinguished author or scholar who is not indebted to the Greeks and Romans for his supe rior attainments. The too early pursuit of all possible sciences at school results in shallow minds that are thorough in nothing. There is no thorough, scientific culture apart from the study of language." HUMANISM AND PHILANTHROPINISM.-The contrast between humanism and philanthropinism has been sharply drawn by Niethammer, a prominent humanist of the latter part of the eighteenth century: 1. Humanism aims at general culture; philanthropinism, at utility. 2. Humanism seeks to exercise and strengthen the mind; philanthropinism, to fill it with useful knowledge. 3. Humanism demands but few subjects of study; philanthropinism, many. 4. Humanism exercises the mind with ideas; philanthropinism, with things. 5. Humanism deals with the true, the beautiful, and the good, the elements of human culture; philanthropinism, with matter. 6. Humanism finds its subjects of study in classical antiquity; philanthropinism, in the present. 7. Humanism regards learning as a serious employment; philanthropinism makes it, as far as possible, an amusement. 8. Humanism leads to thoroughness in a few things; philanthropinism, to superficiality in many. 9. Humanism cultivates the memory, the repository of knowledge; philanthropinism neglects it. LEADING HUMANISTS.-The leading representatives of the humanistic tendency in the eighteenth century were Gesner, Heyne, Ernesti, and Wolf. They pursued the study of the ancient classics with great enthusiasm and success, and succeeded in giving Greek a place by the side of Latin in the higher education. They raised Germany to the leadership in classical learning a position it has held ever since. The college curriculum of England and America has been largely influenced by the humanists. REACTION. Within the past few years a strong reaction has set in and forced a partial readjustment of the college course. The fundamental principles of humanism have been brought into question, and subjected to both scientific and practical tests. Many of them are found to be in part or wholly fallacious. Our knowledge of the ancient world is not dependent upon an acquaintance with Latin and Greek. It is best obtained in the exhaustive labors of great historians who have embodied the results of their investigations in our own and other modern tongues. The treasures of ancient literature-the immortal works of Virgil and Homer, of Cicero and Demosthenes, of Horace and Eschylus-are accessible in scholarly translations, which we can read with the same satisfaction we enjoy in perusing the records of Moses, the songs of David, or the arguments of Paul. And the knowledge thus gained of ancient authors is far more satisfactory than that obtained by college students, who struggle through inconsiderable fragments with grammar and dictionary. While there may be question as to the comparative excellence of style in ancient and modern writing, it is a fact beyond reasonable doubt that the vast extension of the field of knowledge in modern times-the development of science, the marvels of invention, the truths of Christianity-has made the literature of the past two hundred and fifty years greatly more valuable than that of antiquity. The current of thought, like a river, grows broader and deeper as it flows farther from its source. In view of the fact that the ancient languages are not the parents of German and English, but rather elder children of the same Aryan family, it is coming to be recognized that Latin and Greek have no monopoly of general grammar, and that the principles underlying the structure of language can be readily learned from the modern tongues. As the modern languages are not necessarily subject to the abuse of illegitimate helps, and as they call into active exercise every faculty of the student's mind in the threefold work of translating, speaking, and hearing, they do not appear to be at all inferior to the ancient languages as disciplinary studies. MODERN STUDIES.-It is now felt, too, that the modern world, in which we are to play our parts, should not be ignored in our courses of instruction. Considered in its external relations, the end of education is to prepare us for useful living. Great nations are moving upon the stage of the twentieth century; investigators are at work in all Christian lands; international relations are becoming closer each year; the whole earth, bound together by telegraphs and commercial interests, daily challenges our thought. In view of these facts, many hold that it is not wise to require a young man to spend his best years in Greece and Rome as a preparation for intelligent living in the twentieth century-the grandest that the world has seen. It leaves too large a gap between the college and practical life. Hence Latin and Greek, notwithstanding the stubborn resistance of the humanists, are being gradually retired from their former prominence to make way for the mother-tongue, the natural sciences, and the modern languages. 7. EDUCATION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY GENERAL FEATURES.-The nineteenth century gathered within its embrace the fruits of all the labors, struggles, and sufferings of the past. The field of knowledge was not only widened, but it was brought within the reach |