Recent Discussions Concerning Liberal Education [pp. 585-616]

1867.] LTheral Education. 603
of the highest value for the purpose' of acquiring a command
of pure grammatical English.`-(Report, p. 33.)
(6.)`~Lastly, it may be urged that some classical knowledge
is of great value in helping the English student to acquire the
humble but important accomplishment of correct spelling;
because in the case of words of Greek or Latin origin, one possessed of this knowledge knows, from his acquaintance with the
original languages, whence they are derived, how they ought
to be spelt.
"For all these reasons we conclude that English is not to take
the place of Latin and Greek in our education."
But if language must be studied in another tongue, in order
to reap its full educating power, why not use for this purpose
the modern continental languages, which have the prerogative
of being easily acquired, of giving us access to the vast treasures of modern literature and science which they contain, and
of being, particularly the French, as the Latin was before it,
the great medium of commercial, socia], political intercourse
among the cultivated nations-advantages which confessedly do
not belong to the dead languages of Greece and Rome? One
answer to this is thus given by Mr. Mill, after urging the
necessity of knowing French, and the importance of familiarity
with German, to all well-instructed persons of this day.` But
living languages are so much more easily acquired by intercourse with those who use them in daily life; a few months in
the country itself, if properly employed, go so much farther
than as many years of school lessons; that it is really waste of
time for those to whom that easier mode is attainable, to labour
at them with no help but that of books and masters; and it will
in time be made attainable, through international schools
and colleges, to many more than at present. Universities
do enough to facilitate the study of modern languages, if
they give a mastery over that ancient language which is the
foundation of most of them, and the possession of which makes
it easier to learn four or five of the continental languages,
than it is to learn one of them without it." This view is confirmed by the highest living authority, Dr. Max Miiller, who is
quoted by Dr. Jones as saying: "In Latin we have the key to
the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian. Any one who