Chapter VIII: Part I: Humanities (2)

Most of the exercise books have explanations prefixed to each exercise, with examples. All such examples, or at least one of each construction, should be learnt by heart. The same should be done with the syntax rules of any grammar which may be in use. These should all be so well drilled into the pupils, that when a rule is given, or a heading, or (for beginners) the English meaning, the pupils should be able to reel off the example without hesitation. A certain portion of syntax, or of the exercise book, or both, should be set for each stage; and the classes which are studying that part of the subject must learn these, and keep up the old work. The reading book will give plenty of opportunity to ask for these quotations, and it should constantly be done. The oftener the pupil repeats his example of the instrumental ablative, or whatever it may be, the better he will know it; and he cannot know it too well. The pupil should be tested and kept up to the mark by regular grammar papers, at least twice a term.

[Unseen translation.]

Unseen translation should be commenced as early as possible, and form part of the regular work. Beginners can try some unprepared piece out of their reading book, which they must do on paper, and without help, except that they will use the vocabulary. As soon as the pupils are far enough on to use a dictionary, some special book of unseens should be taken, such as Jerram’s _Anglice Reddenda_. The use of helps can be gradually discontinued, until the pupil is weaned from them altogether. This can be done by forbidding dictionaries, and giving the meanings of the more unfamiliar words, fewer and fewer by degrees.

[Repetition.]

As soon as the pupil has begun to read a verse author, repetition should be begun, and never afterwards discontinued. Verse is easier to learn, so with verse we begin; but pieces of prose for learning should be set later. It is useful to make the repetition a part of the terminal examination, and to have every word of it written out. A Greek play and a book of Virgil should be chosen (say the _Medea_, or the _Œdipus Tyrannus_, and the IVth or VIth _Æneid_), together with the _Heroides_ of Ovid, and if time allows, one of the speeches against _Catiline_ and a _Philippic_ of Demosthenes. These can be divided into portions, a portion for each form or class, and it should be understood that this has to be learnt during the term and kept up afterwards. The examination will simply consist in writing out all the portion learnt during the term, and all the old work, if any. As the work will always be the same, the older pupils will soon get to know it perfectly. The system here recommended has been used in one great school for perhaps a quarter of a century, and the results have been excellent.

[Methods of work more advanced.]

[What is to be aimed at.]

[Use of notes and other aids.]

We will now suppose that the accidence and syntax are fairly well known, and that the pupil is ready to read a book of Virgil or a speech of Cicero, Euripides or Demosthenes, without serious difficulty. The methods followed will not change; they will merely be applied more widely. The grammar will need to be kept fresh by the same means as before, and the study will be made more intelligent by use of the comparative and historical methods;[9] construing will be done in the same order, but some style will be expected; composition will be worked by means of correction and fair copies, but the pieces chosen will be harder, and here, too, style will be more attended to; conversation will by this time have become easy and interesting, and will cover a wider range of ideas. The aims of the teacher at this stage must be to teach self-reliance, and to direct the student more and more to illustrative reading. It is advisable at this stage to do part of the work without the aid of notes. The class is reading, we will suppose, a book of Horace’s Odes, and one of Cicero’s speeches. He should have a complete text of Horace, and the proper volume of Cicero’s works (or the whole), with no notes at all; from this he should prepare the work for the first time of doing. Difficulties he must make out as best he can, with the aid of grammar and dictionary, some dictionary of antiquities (_Rich_ for beginners, _Smith’s_ large one for older students), Gow’s _Companion_ and the pictorial _Atlas of Antiquities_. For revision, he should be given notes dictated by the teacher, or some edition with printed notes in it. The class work should be done with the utmost care and exactness, and parts of the author committed to memory: side by side with this should go more discursive reading, especially for the older students. They should be encouraged (and at last expected) to read more of the author by themselves, and to bring difficulties to the teacher, who ought now and again to test their progress. Thus the curriculum of the latter part of the school work will consist of a portion of all the chief authors to be read in school, and as much more as possible of the same authors read out of school.

[9] Lindsay’s _Short Historical Latin Grammar_. For Greek there is
none such as yet, but notes may be given from Giles’ _Manual_, or
King and Cookson (see lists below).

[Illustrative works.]

The pupil should also be directed to illustrative works which will serve to quicken his interest in any author. The excellent series of _Ancient Classics for English Readers_ contains an account of each author, with extracts translated; and well do I remember my interest in the _Xenophon_ of this series, when quite a boy. Passages might be read to the class from some book of travels; _On the Track of the Ten Thousand_, if Xenophon be the author; _Travels or Explorations in Egypt_, if Herodotus; and so forth. The reader of Cicero could not fail to be interested in Boissier’s _Cicero and his Friends_; the Latin poets are well illustrated by Sellar’s _Roman Poets of the Republic_ and of the _Augustan Age_. Symonds’ _Greek Poets_, Mahaffy’s literary and historical books, Champagny’s _Les Césars_, Girard’s _Education Athénienne_ are only a few out of many books which make the old days live again, and add to the literary appreciation of a learner.

[Translations.]

The elder pupils in their private reading must be taught the proper use of translations. It is not to be expected that they will do without them entirely; but they should have access to the best, in a school library or elsewhere, under some direction at first and afterwards at discretion. If they are clearly shown that it is their interest to use them only where their own honest efforts have failed, or as models in the case of books they have already done, most of them will be sensible enough not to abuse their liberty. The pupil will gain much, too, by reading some of the old translations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From North’s _Plutarch_, Hobbes’ _Thucydides_, Holland’s _Livy_, and other such, the learner will gain a new idea of what the English language can do, much to the advantage of his style. Nor is there the same danger in giving pupils these books as in allowing them the free use of modern translations. They reproduce the spirit rather than the letter, and are of little use as “cribs”.

[Style.]

[Lectures and demonstrations.]

When the pupil has learnt how to write correct Latin or Greek, it will be time to pay some attention to style. The pieces chosen should at first be definitely historical, oratorical, philosophical, or dialogue, according to the author being at the time studied; in the last stage, these should be given one after the other, unless any weak point needs strengthening. It is useful now and again to give lectures and demonstrations in composition to a class. Each will be provided with a copy of the English, and the teacher then will get to the heart of it, state its thoughts in the sequence and subordination as simply as possible, and finally translate it bit by bit, using the blackboard to record each step. Questions may be asked or anticipated, and the various renderings suggested should be weighed and discussed. In this manner the beginner sees how a trained mind works, and is helped to guide his own. Good examples of the method may be seen in Sidgwick’s _Lectures on Greek Prose Composition_, Postgate’s _Sermo Latinus_, and Sargent’s _Primers_.

[Verse-writing.]

[Its value.]

So far nothing has been said of verse composition. Much obloquy has been poured on this of late years; and it may be admitted that formerly too much time was given to it. But in spite of all that objectors can say, there is no manner of doubt that verse-writing is a practice of very great value. No one really pretends that it can make poets (the common sneer); all that is claimed for it is, that it is valuable as a mental gymnastic and in training the literary sense. Prose-writing can teach the power of words, but only verse their subtler associations; prose teaches the effect of position upon emphasis, but verse makes clear that there is such a thing as literary form. Most people never realise the rhythm of a piece of prose; its more striking faults may offend or its merits unconsciously please, but why these please or offend it would be beyond their power to say. But the dullest boy or girl who has learnt how to piece together an elegiac couplet, understands that this particular kind of composition is regulated by definite bounds, and cast in a _form_, the variations of which are limited. His ear becomes attuned more or less to rhythm, and this first step may be used to lead him on to the comprehension of literary form in other kinds. I do not say that he will never learn the lesson without writing verses, but that this is the easiest way to teach it; and I would apply the same principle to English or any other language. Some incidental advantages follow at the same time; not the least that the pupil understands the metre of the poets he reads. He will not learn this equally well by scanning. To have full effect the act of scanning must be unconscious; that is, the reader must take in words, meaning and rhythm at the same time without effort. So far as my experience goes, those who have not learnt how to write verses never read poetry in this way, but the scanning (if done) is done by a conscious effort, which draws off the mind from the poetry. Let the class, then, as soon as they begin to read a verse author, do a term’s work or two on elementary exercises in metre (I will not say verse-writing) from Penrose’s _Latin Elegiac Verse Composition_. The time will not be wasted, as has been shown, even if no more is done. Those who wish to go further in Latin verse cannot do without a skilled teacher, for no books exist which can help him much. Demonstrations on the blackboard can teach a great deal at this stage; but nothing can be done by the pupil without learning a great deal of Latin verse by heart. Greek verse is easier to compose than Latin, and may be begun quite late. Nearly all the elementary books on Greek verse are useless without a teacher, and need constant supervision and help; perhaps I may be pardoned for mentioning a little book called _Damon_, since this is the only one wherein the learner is led on by steps graduated close one after the other. Pupils may go straight from this book to the rendering of pieces of English verse, but both Sidgwick’s and Sargent’s books on Greek verse will always be found useful.

[Pronunciation of Latin and Greek.]

It is necessary now to say something about the pronunciation of Latin and Greek. The reformed pronunciation is strongly to be recommended. This is simply set forth in a pamphlet published by the Cambridge University Press,[10] and for Latin is practically that given in the first pages of the _Latin Primer_. The sole advantage of pronouncing Latin and Greek words as if they were English, is that the learner need learn nothing new. But this is far outweighed by the disadvantages; and after all, the pupil has begun to learn French or German, and so is not struck dumb at being called upon to pronounce _i_ as _ee_. The main disadvantages are these: (1) Confusion of _s_, _c_, and _t_, as _Ceres_ with _Seres_, _cedit_ with _sedit_; (2) Confusion of quantity, _mensīs_ (abl. pl.) with _mensĭs_ (gen. sing.), _mālum_ (“evil”) with _mălum_ (“apple”); (3) Difficulty of pronunciation in many words, especially in Greek, as παύω when the first syllable is made to rhyme with _law_; (4) Loss of much beauty in the sound of the languages.

[10] _The Reformed Pronunciation of Greek and Latin_: Arnold and
Conway. 1895. IS.

[The accent in Greek.]

[To be taught as far as practicable.]

In one point, however, I differ from the authors of this pamphlet--that is, on the question of Greek accentuation. It is generally agreed that the Greek accents must be learnt, and rightly so, for many interesting linguistic points turn on them; but it is also the invariable practice not to try to pronounce them. But there is really no reason why most of them should not be pronounced. The Greek accent, as is well known, was a musical intonation; the acute[11] denoting a rise in the tone, the circumflex a rise followed by a fall, _i.e._, a kind of drawl. The circumflex can always be pronounced with ease; so can the acute, when final; so can the great majority of internal accents. It is just as easy to say ἐλΕΙποντο as ἐλειΠΟΝτο. The only cases of real difficulty are words like φέρηται, άνθρωπος, where a long vowel follows an accented syllable. These might be waived for beginners, but these are few compared to the rest; and even to pronounce the accent and quantity in these is not very difficult, especially with the reformed pronunciation. This plan has been tried, and found to work fairly, with young boys from twelve to sixteen.

[11] The grave on finals, when written for acute, is practically the
same.

[Value of old English translations.]

There is a means by which the classical teacher may be greatly helped, and that is if the general course of studies in the school be so arranged, that good English translations of the classics form a fair proportion of the English authors read. Many of these translations are themselves English classics, such as Chapman’s and Pope’s _Homer_, North’s _Plutarch_, Dryden’s _Virgil_ and _Juvenal_. Others there are in plenty, no less excellent than these, if less known--Phaer’s _Virgil_, Holland’s versions of _Livy_, _Suetonius_, _Plutarch’s Morals_, and many other works; Hobbes’ _Thucydides_, Barnard’s _Terence_, Echard’s _Plautus_--indeed there is hardly a classical author of repute who did not find a worthy translator in the Elizabethan age. A few of these are accessible in cheap reprints,[12] and if there were a demand for any of them a reprint would appear at once. By reading these the children will become familiar with the subject-matter of classical authors before they have to translate them; and they will also have made acquaintance with some fine works of literature, many of which (such as North) are interesting from association with Shakspere. When Roman or Greek history comes in the regular historical cycle, some of these books might well be read along with them.

[12] Messrs. Dent & Co., in the Temple Classics, have brought out
Chapman, and intend to include North and others.

[Models and illustrations.]

The last thing to be mentioned is the use of models and illustrations. There is almost no limit to the number of such things that can be had; the real limit is the depth of the teacher’s purse. But the schools ought to provide these things for use; it is too much to expect that teachers should spend their sparings and savings in educational plant. Any money spent in this way is amply repaid by the interest added to the work. Classical teachers ought to have at their disposal lantern slides illustrating classical life and history, wall pictures and maps, photographs and models. Slides may be hired from the Hellenic Society, or bought through the Teachers’ Guild;[13] for wall pictures there are two excellent series, those of Cybulski and Launitz. Of photographs there are thousands. The wise teacher will travel and collect them; but for those who will not, one or two addresses of photographers are given below,[14] with the names of some useful works. The pictures can be kept in the school library, and hung up for the term when they will be useful. For the photographs, frames with movable backs are most to be recommended, as the pictures can then be changed at will. The teacher should talk about them, and question his class, and (as already suggested) they may form a topic of Latin or Greek conversation. It is astonishing how much children will learn from these things. In addition, it is highly desirable that each pupil should have his pictorial atlases as he has an atlas of geography.

[13] There is a large collection in the Guild Museum, Gower Street,
London. Here also models may be seen.

[14] See p. 93.

[Recapitulation.]

[Weak points to be strengthened.]

The writer has now pointed out what, in his opinion, is the place which Latin and Greek should take in a girl’s education, and the methods best calculated to teach them. If in these there is not much that is new, they are at all events such as experience has proved to be sound. One or two points may be indicated which are apt to be weak in girl students, and must therefore be specially guarded against. They are apt to be shaky in grammar, and they seem to have less mental self-reliance than boys. As regards those who learn late, they must go over the same ground; for no teacher and no book, no not if angels wrote it, can point out a royal road to learning. These late-learners bring to the task a mind already more or less trained, and so they will get on faster; but let them beware of trying to get on too fast. They must make up their minds that grammar has to be learnt, and work at it with a will. If they have already done half of the drudgery by learning Latin, as here recommended, their task will be not easy indeed, but not beyond their powers; and even if both Latin and Greek are begun late, they need not even then despair. I have known several, both men and women, who have begun late and ended with success, even with distinction; although it must be admitted that these were persons of exceptional powers. But it is of the utmost importance that the most capable teachers should have charge of the late-learners. The greater the difficulty, the greater need for a teacher who has his subjects at the ends of his fingers, who can see a short-cut, and is able to judge how much of the preliminary work can safely be shortened, or even omitted for the time. When skill in the teacher meets with will in the taught, between them they may remove mountains.

SUGGESTED SCHEME OF WORK IN SIX PARTS.

LATIN.

_Grammar._ _Composition._

1. Parts of speech and elements: 1. Simplest sentences: statement,
regular nouns and adjectives: question and answer.
_est_, _sunt_, and how to form 3rd
sing. and pl. pres. indic. first
conjugation, given the infinitive
present.

2. Commonest pronouns: present 2. Cases of agent and instrument,
indic. of _sum_, and how to form time and place: _quam_ with nom.
3rd sing. and pl. of all four and acc., abl. of comparison: a
conjugations, given the infinitive few common prolate verbs: simplest
present. relative sentences and _cum_
temporal.

3. Pronouns and cardinal numerals: 3. Ablative absolute, and a few
active of the four conjugations: more case usages: accusative with
_sum_: meanings and case of a few infinitive: use of _se_, _suus_,
common prepositions. _ipse_: double questions:
factitives in active, prolate
verbs: relative sentences, with a
hint of finals: commands and
prohibitions: causal, concessive
and temporal sentences.

4. Ordinal numerals: passive of 4. _Quisquam_, _quisque_,
the four conjugations: a few _quivis_, etc. (meaning): chief
common irregular verbs. case usages: factitives: common
verbs with dative: dependent
questions: accusative with
infinitive, tenses distinguished:
simple finals, pos. and negative:
simple consecutives: verbs of
hindering and fearing.

5 and 6. Deponents, impersonals, 5. _Utor_ and other verbs with
irregular verbs: fill up gaps (add various cases: all case usages:
_e.g._, the rest of the numerals). gerund and gerundive: some
impersonal verbs: final and
consecutive sentences: conditions
begun.

6. _Quisquam_, etc., use and
idioms: participles: _nunquam_,
etc., causal, concessive, temporal
and other conjunctions:
conditions: _obliqua_.

GREEK.

_Grammar._ _Composition._

1. Regular nouns and adjectives: 1. Concords (including that of
article: εστιν and εισιν: how to neuter plural): article in direct
form 3rd sing. and pl. pres. predication: simplest sentences,
indic. of verbs in -ω given the statement, question and answer:
infinitive present. simplest meanings of cases:
meanings of απο, εις, εν, εξ, μετα
(gen.), συν.

2. Some irregular nouns: cardinal 2. Article with demonstrative and
numerals: comparison of with adjectives of position:
adjectives: commoner pronouns: αυτος: simplest meaning of the
ειμι, with active of λυω. General tenses: accusative with
rules for accent in its dependence infinitive: some further particles
on quantity. of question and emphasis.

3. Numerals: ειμι, λυω: a few 3. Genitive absolute: agent and
irregular nouns. Accent of nouns instrument and other case usage:
and verbs (general rules). infinitive with verbs of command
or request: commands,
prohibitions, wishes (opt.): ἱνα
and its sequence: double questions
and further formulæ.

4. Contracted verbs: parts of a 4. ὁπως with fut. indic. ὡστε: all
few irregular verbs: accent of final constructions: verbs of
nouns and verbs (special rules) fearing: δια, νατα, μετα, παρα,
and contracted syllables. προς, ὑπο.

5. Verbs in -μι: οιδα φημι: parts 5. Accusative and nominative with
of commoner irregular verbs. infinitives: use of participles
with certain verbs: consecutive
and temporal constructions: simple
indirect statement and question:
the conditions begun.

6. Irregular nouns and verbs: fill 6. The cases, tenses, participles
gaps. Revise with Goodwin’s and prepositions: idioms, such as
_Grammar_. καιπερ ἁτε ὡς: conditions: all
rules of _obliqua_.

BOOKS.[15]

[15] V is added to those which have vocabularies; K means key.

The writer wishes it to be understood that this is not an exhaustive list. These books he has either tested by use, or has good grounds in the experience of others for the judgment given of them; but there are many others of the same kind, and there is often little to choose between them. The publishers whose books are given below are: Camb. Univ. Press, Clarendon Press, Blackie, Dent, Grevel, Isbister, Longmans, Macmillan, Murray, Rivingtons, Seeley, Trübner.

LATIN: GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION.

_Public School Lat. Primer_ (or Postgate’s _New Lat. Primer_, in some
respects a more useful book) should be kept at hand, if only for
reference and revision. Abbott, _Via Latina_ (v), 3/6; excellent.
Morris, _Elementa Latina_, with _Tripertita_ as an exercise book,
followed by Mansfield’s _Lat. Exercise Book_; a good series for very
beginners, but the exercises need supplementing. Allen, _Rudimenta
Latina_ (v) 2/6; belongs to a complete series, the other books
being an _Elementary Latin Grammar_, 2/6, a _First_ (v), 2/6, and
a _Second Latin Exercise Book_ (v), 3/6. The last named is an
excellent book for teachers, who may learn much from it, but I have
found it dull and difficult for the learner. Ritchie, _First Steps
in Lat._ (v), 1/6; also one of a series, with _Ex. in Lat. Prose
Comp._ (v), 2/6, and _Easy Continuous Lat. Prose_, 2/6,[16] _Latin
Clause Construction_, 1/6, a _First Lat. Verse Book_ (v), 2/-,
and a Reader _Fabulæ Faciles_ (v), 2/6, with _Imitative Lat. Ex._
(v), 1/6, based upon it. These are good books, and I prefer them
to Allen’s after using both series: the explanations are clearer,
and there are more sentences. Macmillan’s _Latin Course_ (v), two
parts, 3/6 and 4/6; good. It has an advantage in the large number of
exercises. England, _Exx. in Latin, Syntax and Idiom_ (v k), 2/6;
a companion to Roby’s _School Latin Grammar_. Rooper and Herring,
_Primary Lat. Exx._ (v), 3/6; specially adapted to the _Revised Lat.
Primer_. North and Hillard, _Lat. Prose Comp._ (v), for the middle
forms, 3/6; carefully arranged and progressive from phrases and
sentences to continuous prose. Champneys and Randall, _Easy English
Pieces for Translation into Latin Prose_, 1st and 2nd series, each
1/6; excellent, and can be used with a sentence book as soon as the
elements are mastered. More advanced Grammars: W. M. Lindsay, _Short
Historical Lat. Gr._, 4/6; excellent. This is mainly philological. H.
J. Roby, _School Lat. Gr._, 5/-; good. Not philological.

[16] See below, Champneys.

For Idiom and Construction in the higher stages:--

Bradley, _Arnold’s Lat. Prose Comp._ (v), 5/-, and _Aids to Writing
Latin Prose_, 5/-, with full explanations; the former has sentences,
the latter continuous prose. Abbott, _Lat. Prose through Eng. Idiom_,
2/6; is a most useful little book for committing to memory. This
should be used with one or two forms or sets in addition to the
stock books. Jerram, _Latine Reddenda_, 1/6; useful collection of
miscellaneous sentences. Books of chosen English: Holden, _Foliorum
Centuriæ_, 8/-, for Gr. and Lat. prose; the standard collection.
Wilkins’ _Manual of Lat. Prose Comp._, 4/6. Sargent and Dallin,
_Materials and Models for Lat. Pr. Comp._ (k), 6/6; with references
for each piece to portions of Latin authors on similar subjects; a
useful book. Potts, _Passages for Transl. into Lat. Prose_ (k), 2/6.
Nettleship, _Passages for Transl. into Lat. Prose_, with a valuable
introduction. Postgate: see below.

Most useful for teachers, advanced students, or private students:--

J. Y. Sargent, _Lat. Prose Primer_ (v), 2/6; most of the pieces are
carefully analysed, and the steps by which the sense is mastered and
then translated are shown in detail. It is a companion to Sargent’s
_Easy Passages for Transl. into Lat._ (k), 2/6. Potts, _Hints
towards Lat. Pr._, 3/-; perhaps the most useful of all manuals on
Latin prose style. Postgate, _Sermo Latinus_ (k), 2/6; interesting
and instructive. Ramsay, _Lat. Pr. Versions_, with the English,
5/-; excellent models. Meissner’s _Lat. Phrase Book_, 3/6; phrases
and quotations classified and indexed; a most useful book. Roby’s
_Lat. Gr._, two vols., 9/- and 10/6; indispensable. W. M. Lindsay,
_Lat. Language_, 21/-; indispensable to those who study Latin from
the comparative standpoint. His _Short Historical Lat. Gr._ will,
however, be sufficient for less advanced students.

VERSE.

Manuals by Penrose (elegiacs); Morice (same, more advanced), and
Lupton (lyrics): Holden, _Foliorum Silvula_ (the best anthology).

READERS.

There are numbers of elementary readers, and there is really little
to choose between them. The most useful set seems to the writer to
be Rivington’s _Single Term Latin Readers_, 8d. to 1/4 each. With
notes, exercises and vocabularies. These are sets of three books for
each of six terms, each book containing enough for a term’s work, and
each set having the same standard. Others in common use are: Morice,
_Loculi_, 2/-; Abbott, _Dux Latinus_, 2/-, adapted to _Via Latina_;
Ritchie, _Fabulæ Faciles_; Bennett’s _Easy Lat. Stories_, Hardy’s
_Lat. Reader_, etc. Teachers and private students may learn much from
Abbott’s _Latin Gate_.

GREEK: GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION.

Abbott and Mansfield, _Primer of Gr. Gr._, 2/6, or with Syntax, 3/6;
is perhaps the most convenient as a collection of facts. A _Primer of
Gr. Ex._, 3/6, has been compiled to go with it. Ritchie’s elementary
exercise books can be recommended. Ritchie and Moore, _Practical
Gr. Method for Beginners_ (v k), 3/6. Ritchie, _First Steps in Gr._
(v), 2/-; exercises need to be supplemented. Jackson, _First Steps
to Greek Prose Comp._ (v k), and _Second Steps_ (v k), 1/6 and 3/6;
are useful exercise books. Macmillan’s Greek course: _Easy Ex. in
Gr. Accidence_ (v), 2/-; _Easy Ex. in Gr. Syntax_ (v), 2/6; _Second
Gr. Exercise Book_ (v), 2/6; companions to Rutherford’s _Greek
Grammar_. They are almost exclusively exercises, and very full.
Jerram, _Graece Reddenda_ (v), 2/6; a collection of miscellaneous
sentences. Sidgwick’s _First Gr. Writer_ (v k), 3/6; easy continuous
prose, may be used along with any book of sentences. Following this
comes his excellent _Gr. Prose Comp._ (v k), 5/-, and then the pupil
will be able to dispense with crutches. Both have clear and useful
introductions. Arnold’s _Gr. Pr. Comp._ (v k), 3/6, ed. by Abbott,
has useful exercises in idiom.

More advanced, and to be used as soon as the accidence is mastered,
is Goodwin’s _Gr. Gr._, 6/-, new ed., excellent; or his _School Gr.
Gr._, 3/6. To the advanced student Goodwin’s _Gr. Moods and Tenses_,
second ed., 14/-, is indispensable. Much may be learnt from the
_Gr. Gram._ of Goodwin, 6/-; Rutherford, 3/6; and Sonnenschein.
Collections of chosen English: Holden, _Foliorum Centuriæ_; Wilkins,
_Manual of Gr. Prose Comp._, 5/-; Sargent and Dallin, _Materials
and Models for Gr. Prose Comp._ How to tackle a piece of English,
see Sidgwick’s _Lectures on Gr. Prose Comp._, and _Lectures on the
Teaching of Composition_, 4/6. Sargent’s _Gr. Prose Primer_ (v k),
3/6, is stimulating.

VERSE.

_Damon: A Manual of Gr. Iambic Verse_ (v k), by Williams and Rouse,
2/6. Holden’s _Foliorum Silvula_ (the best anthology). Help may be
obtained from the Greek verse books of Sidgwick and Morice (v k),
(v), Sargent (v), and Kynaston (v), 4/6.

READERS.

Rivington’s _Single Term Readers_ (v), like his Latin readers, 9d.
each; recommended. Heatley, _Græcula_ (v k), 1/6, for beginners.
Sidgwick, _First Gr. Reading Book_ (v), 2/6: 100 easy stories, with
some grammar. Rushbrooke, _First Gr. Reader_ (v), 2/6; Bell’s _Second
Gr. Reader_, 3/-; Murray’s _Fourth_ (specimens of dialects), 4/6, and
Abbott’s _Fifth_ (Homer and the dramatists), 4/6. Macmillan’s _Gr.
Reader_, stories and legends, 3/-. Mayor, _First Gr. Reader_, 4/6.
The student had better pass on as soon as possible to some such book
as the following: _Xenophon, Easy Selections_, Philpotts and Jerram.
_Herodotus, Battle of Marathon in Attic Prose._ _Herodotus, Tales
from, Atticised_, Farnell, 1/6. _Arrian: Selections_, Walpole, 1/6.
_Lucian: Extracts_, Bond and Walpole, 1/6. The next step will be to
selections from the _Attic Orators_: Rivington’s _Middle Form Greek
Readers_, 1/6 each; Plato’s _Crito_ or _Apology_; Sidgwick’s _Scenes
from Greek Plays_.

GREEK AND LATIN: UNSEEN TRANSLATION.

Jerram, _Anglice Reddenda_, three series, 2/6, 3/-, 3/-. Reid,
_Transl. at Sight_, 2/6 each part. Spratt and Pretor, _Transl. at
Sight_ (k); an extremely good selection of difficult passages.

Models: Jebb, Jackson and Currie’s _Translations_, and Fox and
Bromley, _Models and Exx. in Unseen Translation_.

ANTIQUITIES.

Gow, _Companion to School Classics_; indispensable. Schreiber,
_Atlas of Class. Antiq._, 21/-. Anderson, _Atlas to Homer_, 21/-.
Rouse, _Atlas of Gr. and Rom. Portraits_, 1/6 each part. Macmillan’s
_Manuals of Antiq._, 5/- each. Murray, _Handb. of Gr. Archæology_,
18/-. J. Harrison, _Mythol. and Monuments of Early Athens_.
Middleton, _Remains of Ancient Rome_. Lanciani, _Ruins of Ancient
Rome_ and other works. Schneider, _Das Alte Rom._ (Pictorial atlas
with maps; excellent.)

COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM.

P. Giles, _Manual of Phil._; the best handy manual. Henry, _Comp.
Gram. of Gr. and Lat._ King and Cookson, _Introd. to the Comp.
Gram. of Gr. and Lat._, 5/6. Lindsay, _Short Hist. Lat. Gram._,
5/6. More advanced: Brugmann, _Compar. Gram. of the Indo-Germ.
Languages_ (translated). The standard work. King and Cookson,
_Principles of Sound and Inflexion_, 18/-. Lindsay, _Lat. Language_,
21/-. Prellwitz, _Etymolog. Wörterb. der griech. Sprache_; good.
Wharton, _Etyma Græca_ and _Etyma Latina_. Thompson, _Gr. and Lat.
Palæography_, 3/6.

ILLUSTRATIVE PICTURES AND MODELS.

Cybulski, _Tabulæ quibus antiquitates Græcæ et Latinæ illustrantur_
(Köhler, Leipzig). Wall pictures, coloured, 4/- or 5/- each. An
excellent series. Launitz, _Wandtafeln zur Veranschaulichung antiker
Lebens und antiker Kunst_. Through Deighton Bell, Cambridge. Casts:
Brucciani, Covent Garden (catalogue).

Models: Inquire at Museum of Teachers’ Guild, Gower St., London.

Slides: the same. Field, _Cat. of Lantern Slides for Fyffe’s History
of Greece_, 6d. _Roman_ catalogue preparing. Catalogue of the slides
in the Loan Collection of the Hellenic Society.

Photographs, etc.: Catalogue of _English Photographic Company_, S.
C. Atchley, Place de la Constitution, Athens. A very full and cheap
collection. Mr. Atchley is well known to the writer, and strangers
need have no hesitation in writing and sending money direct.
Photographs are sold by _German School_ at Athens.

The following Greek photographers have good collections: _Rhomaïdes
Frères_, Rue de Niké, 24; _Constantin Athanasiou_, Rue d’Hermès, 6.
Catalogues. The Levant: Bonfils & Co., Beyrout, Syria; and local
photographers at Constantinople, Smyrna, Jerusalem and Cairo.
Purchases should be made through some one on the spot. Italy: Sommer
e Figlio, Largo Vittoria, Napoli: photographs and models. Collezione
Brogi, and the Stabilimento Fotografico Moscioni have large choice.
Museums. London: Stereoscopic Company, Clarke & Sons, Mansell & Co.
Berlin: the Museum publishes a few (catalogue). Paris: Girardon,
15 Rue Bonaparte. Munich: Bruckmann, Verlagsanstalt für Kunst (see
below).

Publications. _Denkmäler der Griech. und Röm. Skulptur_: Brunn &
Bruckmann, Munich. Magnificent plates. _Griechische und Römische
Porträts_: Arndt & Bruckmann, Munich. _Einzelverkauf_: photographs
of sculpture (Bruckmann), separately about 6d. each. _Classical
Sculpture Gallery_: Grevel & Co. 12/- a year. Cheap reproductions of
all the chief works of sculpture, ancient and modern. _Bilder zur
Mythologie und Geschichte der Griechen und Römern._ Hoppe-Graeser,
Vienna.

MODERN LANGUAGES.

By DOROTHEA BEALE.

First a few words on the order in which languages should be taught. I do not think that we should make a change for the better as regards girls’ education, were we to substitute Latin for French, placing that subject first in order of time. It seems to me best to begin with French, a language etymologically related to our own, and having a simple grammatical structure.

[Order of language teaching.]

Secondly I prefer to take German, the grammar of which approaches more nearly to the classical models, whilst the inflections are easier to learn than the French; its etymology too not only throws much light on our own, but is more transparent, which makes it a medium, perhaps as valuable as Greek, far more valuable than Latin, for showing the refinements of language, the poetry and philosophy fossilised in speech. Thus those only take up the classical languages who have some linguistic power. Girls who are unable to master the difficulties of the grammar will never encounter them, and as the languages gradually increase in difficulty, we can better fit the means of education to the power of the pupil. The classics form, it is true, a key to modern tongues, but on the other hand modern tongues lead up to Latin and Greek, and I believe this order is equally logical and answers better with girls; it is something to open to them the literature of France and Germany, something to teach them languages, so that they shall find the study (as they generally do) one of interest. At any rate there are four stages at which we can leave behind those unable to continue their march, and who, if we tried to bring them further, would form only a crowd of stragglers. Those who have a good knowledge of one or two modern languages will have no great difficulty in taking up Latin or Greek say at fourteen or fifteen. They will have a large etymological store, which will make it easy to acquire the vocabulary, and they will have to study only the differentia of the grammars of the different languages--may we not rather say dialects?--of the Indo-European stock.

Nearly all syntax rules will be already known, and a Latin Grammar in which the principles are brought out, may take the place of one written for young boys in whom the grammatical faculty is rudimentary--in which dogmatic rules only abound; dogma should as far as possible yield to principles, which are intelligible and interesting to elder girls, and this will help them over the necessarily considerable labour of learning the inflections. Perhaps few will attain the minute exhaustive scholarship of which some minds are capable, but many will read with keen enjoyment; some girls who have begun late have taken high places in university examinations.

Much has been recently written on the subject of modern languages; in the books edited by Mr. Barnett and Dr. Spenser, just published, to which I have frequently referred, are excellent papers. I shall therefore make my remarks on the subject very brief. In the first is an excellent paper by Mr. Storr, and Dr. Spenser has written a paper of about fifty pages, giving a full account of the modern system of teaching.

It is time that some reform took place. The Oxford Local Examiners of 1896 reported the French as phenomenally bad. In 1897 nearly half the seniors failed. I have tabulated the answers to the few questions set by me to pupils entering over twelve, and I find, taking some two hundred, that not one in ten knows the regular verbs, and scarcely any write very simple sentences without egregious faults.

[Only oral teaching at first.]

The first teaching in modern languages should certainly be oral. In the kindergarten, French and German songs and simple sentences may be taught in the lowest forms. Supposing that children begin about seven or eight, it seems better they should not see written French at first. If they have learned the alphabet, as I have suggested in a former paper, they will take some interest in the new sounds of French and might read from a phonetic transcription.

[Phonetic alphabet.]

There are good papers in the (August and September, 1897) _Journal of Education_ on this subject by Mr. Ware, Mr. Kirkman and Mons. Passy, which I commend to my readers. I give a few extracts. Mr. Ware writes: “In Germany, every teacher has to render himself capable of teaching pronunciation, and results prove that he succeeds. In various German training colleges, there are courses of lectures on phonetics applied to the study of foreign languages. It was owing to the success attending the introduction of phonetics in the French teaching in certain German schools that I was finally induced to try them in the earliest stages of French teaching at Bradford. The results have exceeded my expectations.”

This is confirmed by Mr. Bearder of Nottingham. He writes: “Though I have not used the method in such a thorough and systematic manner as he has done at Bradford, still the results are such as to convince me that I am entitled to support Mr. Ware in his refutation of one argument, letting alone others, which the opponents of phonetic teaching continually bring forward, that time is wasted in learning the two modes of spelling”.

[Common errors.]

If it is not possible to get the reading taught phonetically, using the international alphabet, the use of the tables of Larousse will be a great help. In any case pieces which are learned by heart, dialogues, etc., should be repeated in the class after the French teacher, before the children see the book. Few English people have ever learned to distinguish the sounds of the final syllable in the imperfect and _passé défini_ or the future and the conditional or the gradual opening of the sounds as we pass through _e_, _é_, _è_, _ê_. Very few pronounce _u_ properly when it precedes another vowel--_lui_ is pronounced _looee_. Very few observe that a labial nasal before another labial is changed into a dental nasal, thus not _impossible_ but _inpossible_, and nearly all say _leer_ for _lee_ + _r_. Children are taught to read so unsystematically, that if they are told these things they forget them, and waste time in repeating easy sounds, instead of working at the hard ones. Children should not be set to learn verbs, etc., without having first repeated them and practised the sounds with their teachers. When they do begin to read, the sound-table should be hanging up, and should be referred to, that they may correct their errors themselves. These pronouncing lessons should go on in a room alone, so that children may speak together in imitating the teacher; then she should single out individuals for different sounds; but the whole class should never sit round, as is the custom in some schools, and hear each of their companions read in succession a piece of French with true British accent. If they listen, their time is worse than wasted; if they do not, they get habits of inattention. The attention must not be wearied, and if two or three sounds are acquired each week, the whole will very soon be mastered, and time saved for the repetition of poetry, for _viva voce_ composition, etc.

[Translation.]

When children begin to read, we should spare them as much stupefying dictionary work as possible, but it is not well to let them learn the vocabularies of the book without comment, and they should be led from their past knowledge to discover the meaning, and as far as may be, get at the root meaning of unknown words, and see the underlying figure. Thorough work is much quicker in the end. Pascal’s father left his son with a Latin book, and no dictionary, to find out the translation. This may be a counsel of perfection suited only to a Pascal, but there are not many words of which children could not discover the meaning. Much more translation from French into English should be got through than is usual; children ought soon to be able to read at sight. Time need not be wasted by hearing all that has been prepared, but each could be called on to translate one sentence, and then translation go on at sight.

[Vocabulary.]

The pupil should have a small note-book in which each new word is entered. This book should be divided into three columns: the first will contain the word in its general form; the second the root of the word with its etymological meaning, if known, or any cognate by which it may be remembered; the third column, the primary and principal secondary meanings. Every noun should have the article before it; these should be learned and repeated before the next translation lesson. The teacher may also give groups of words, derivatives of the root, and by this means a copious vocabulary will be in a short time acquired--the words once grasped will not be forgotten. The enthusiastic teacher will probably have to put a check on his zeal, for if he is led off too far into etymologies, he will get through no translation. After a little the pupil should begin to prepare alone, and to make his own word-book; every translation should begin with the inspection of this book by the teacher and by the hearing of the words.

[Exercises.]

Since the acquisition of correct habits is the main thing in learning languages, we should before all things prevent the acquisition of wrong ones, by letting pupils speak, and write exercises before their ear and eye have been trained. They should not be allowed to speak a language carelessly, to “pick it up,” as the phrase is, incorrectly. A most pernicious practice is it to set girls to speak a foreign tongue together. The evil habits acquired cannot possibly be undone in subsequent study. I knew a master of languages who refused to give lessons to those obliged to speak thus. He could not, he said, in a few hours a week, correct the bad French learned during the remainder. Learning bad French, however, is one of the least evils connected with this practice. Anything deserving the name of conversation is banished where it is strictly enforced, and so the mind is dwarfed and stunted, and when girls leave school, they are often found unable to talk except upon trivial subjects, and unable to express themselves like rational beings in any language.

I quote from the rules of the _maître phonétique_:--

[Re-translation.]

“Le maître fera étudier les phrases les plus uselles, des textes suivis, dialogues, descriptions et récits, aussi faciles, aussi naturels et aussi intéressants que possible. Il enseignera d’abord la grammaire inductivement, comme généralisation des faits observés: une étude plus systématique sera réservée pour la fin.”

The translation book must be made the basis of teaching, and the ear familiarised with the correct form by the learning of good French, the rules as far as possible being found inductively. Thus the children will observe the changes in _mon frère_, _ma mère_, _mes frères et mes sœurs_, and be able to make a table. Life is too short to find out all grammar, and so we shall eventually have recourse to collections of grammatical forms, but this need not be done until a good deal has been discovered by means of sentences formed for the purpose.

Easy passages should be translated into English and back into French according to Ascham’s method. This should precede the writing of exercises, which may, however, be read at sight in class. Children should repeat verbs interrogatively and negatively with pronouns in their places, so that the ear may be trained before the rule is discovered. Fassnacht’s books are good. Mrs. Bell’s books too are useful for children to learn instead of ordinary dialogues. It is impossible for them to speak in a natural way, when they are merely giving abstract sentences, but they can hold short conversations with one another in an animated way, and these can be taught _viva voce_ in daily lessons.

[Composition.]

Monotony should be avoided, and occasionally instead of setting an exercise, it is well for the teacher to relate a short story, and let the children repeat what they can, or write what they can remember; but in all these things we must avoid as much as possible wasting their time by making them listen to one another’s mistakes.

Exercises may be written and a grammar used later, but if the teacher economises time, there will remain enough in each lesson to prepare pupils for the writing of the next exercise and to warn them of mistakes they would otherwise be likely to make. I need not repeat here what I have said under the head of corrections and time saving (see p. 28, introduction).

[Philology.]

Finally as regards grammatical rules. There are doubtless many forms which must be learned, and rules which we must treat as arbitrary, because we can see no reason for them, but the more reasons we can show, the more interesting will language become, and the easier to learn. Thus children are glad to discover that the terminations are not mysterious letters for which there is no reason, but the remnants of pronouns put on at the end--that in the French future we get the same as the English, “I have to write,” only “have” comes after, and in the conditional, “I had”. They need not then learn these tenses, only notice the abbreviations. The survival of the _t_ in _a-t-il_ and many other things will enliven the grammar lesson. Peile’s delightful _Manual of Philology_ and D’Arcy Thomson’s _Day-dreams of a Schoolmaster_ are suggestive, but of course the more a teacher knows of philology, the more interesting she can make her lessons, and one versed in the subject should be found in every school.

[Rationale of rules.]

The never-ending rules for the past participle may be at once disposed of by just showing children that the participle being an adjective must agree with the word it belongs to. If I say, “I have written a letter,” of course “written” belongs to letter and therefore it must agree. We need not make them think about whether it is subject or complement. The only curious thing they have to notice, is that it does _not_ agree when the word it belongs to comes after “have”. Is it because the thought of the act of writing is more present to the mind when we say, “I have written a letter,” and we do not think of the letter as written, whereas when the letter is objectified to our gaze, being represented by a pronoun, we think of it rather as a letter written?

The learning of a third language will present less difficulties. If the language is German we can, by a few simple etymological laws, get command of a copious vocabulary in a short time. The declensions offer some difficulty at the outset, chiefly on account of the adjectives. But the phonetic change is made in order to avoid the repetition of the harsh sound _s_, _m_, _r_, and therefore when this occurs in a preceding pronominal adjective, it is dropped or softened in the second adjective; thus the ear guides, and we have not to think about the forms; one has only to notice that in the oblique cases it is weakened to _n_, and in the plural it is always _n_.

The order of words offers difficulties too, and we have a complicated construction. We have to fix our attention on the functions of words, as we did not in a simpler language, for a whole row of words goes to make up an adjective, and dependent sentences are constantly taking the place of simple words. Insight there must be to see what are dependent sentences, and then the whole paraphernalia of rules about certain conjunctions which require the verb to be sent to the end vanish too and we move freely.

Another difficulty is the different uses of prepositions. In English we go “through” the street, in German “on”. We go “through” a town, the Germans “over”. Let the difference of the conception be realised, and the prepositions will come right.

[Literature.]

It is a great pleasure to those approaching maturity to study a language made for metaphysics. We cannot read German without finding everywhere fossil poetry and philosophy, and the rolling periods and the grand verse stir our soul like a trumpet, and we know that we hear the voice of an heroic people, who speak a language and think thoughts akin to our own.

Latin does not attract perhaps in the same way; the military precision of the Latin classics has its charm. I feel strongly that Latin should, however, properly come after German, specially for girls. There is a pestilential atmosphere in the Campania, and one needs to have one’s moral fibre braced by the poetry of the Hebrews and of England and Germany, if one would remain unaffected by writings saturated with heathen thought.

Those who are able to spare time and strength for Greek, and love poetry in all its forms, will delight indeed in the “Wine of Hellas,” and with the enthusiasm which they will bring to a new study they will surmount in a short time obstacles which would have delayed them for months, when they had less knowledge of co-ordinate forms, less taste, less insight, less joy in wrestling with problems and searching into mysteries. If there is not time nor talent nor inclination for all, then I would say prefer Greek to Latin.

The chief thing for the teacher to do is so to teach that the pupil shall enjoy the work. I do not mean that the pupil should be spared hard work and drudgery, or be always expecting to find honey on Hymettus; but do we not all know that the labour of making our way over rotten glaciers and up stony moraines is forgotten when we stand on the crest, and that all the way we go, we think of the joy set before us, when we shall attain to some lofty peak, whence we can see the outstretched heavens and the sunlit earth? For this we must throw ourselves in each language upon literature--the forms of grammar will be the ladder whereby we mount.

And then we shall return to our own native poets and thinkers, with minds enriched by foreign travel, and Milton will be the interpreter of the poetry of the world--of ancient and modern times, Spenser of the mediæval romances, Chaucer of the world of nature, Wordsworth and Coleridge of spiritual philosophy, and we shall feel that we must be worthy of so great an inheritance, and not trample under our feet the pearls, the precious jewels of speech.

Do I seem unpractical? It is just these ideas that are practical, which we must get our children to see and to feel, and then the burden of earnest, thoughtful labour will seem light, and our English tongue will not be degraded by slovenly pronunciation or the use of vulgar and inappropriate words.

SPELLING REFORM.

By DOROTHEA BEALE.

Let me earnestly beg of teachers not to put aside the question of spelling reform as of little moment, but to do their utmost to bring it about.

Can it be to educators of little moment that learning to read, instead of introducing children to an orderly system, reveals chaos, and interferes with the tendency upon which all science is founded to expect law and order. As Professor Max Müller writes «Every thing that children have to learn in reading and spelling is irrational; one rule contradicts the other, and each statement has to be accepted simply on authority, and with a complete disregard of those rational instincts, which lie dormant in the child, and ought to be awakened by every kind of healthy exercise».