every kind of knowledge, and he is the two or three years." A great portion of ex- anxious solicitude for information. But to the study of language the youthful mind has no propensity, for it feels that the pleasure and advantage that results from the acquisi tion of real knowledge is not associated with an ability in him to call the same object by a variety of different names. But it may be said, that the same objections may be urged against instructing a child either to spell or read; for, in the first stages of this kind of learning, the memory is, as in the learning of languages, burdened with a number of sounds to which it cau affix no meaning, and from which it consequently derives no ideas. This is true; and, therefore, I think those parents are the most wise who are not premature in this kind of instruction; for, I have little doubt but that during the very early period of it, children are generally ra ther injured than benefited; but the great advantages that are upon the whole tobe deriv-. ed from this temporary sacrifice does so much more than compensate for the evil, that no one ought to think, in ordinary cases, of taking it into the account; besides, if it be not commenced too early, this is an art which will, in most cases, be acquired with considerable facility: but what equivalent is there to the feelings of the child, or to the man that will compensate for the fatigue and labour attending the study of a dead language. if we set aside the gratifications of vanity? Were I capable of calling every thing I see in heaven above or earth beneath" by the various names that are given to them by that the Latin tlemen of both universities to a discussion all the different nations on the face of the 14th of Feb you assert 1. globe, should I by this means, acquire, the and Greek languages are improperly called the least acquaintance with any of their proper. Learned Languages," and 2 "that the teachties? would it instruct me to shun fire as an ing of those languages to persons who are element that would burn me? or teach me to become statesmen, legislators, lawyers, to handle carefully the edged tool as an in- physicians, or priests, is worse than useless." strument that would wound me and what and, in another number, "to bring this matwould it do for my mind? would such a faster to the test, you invite the Lorned Gencility enable me so to avail myself of the passions, habits, and prejudices of man-upon the subject." Now, Sir, although I kind, as that I might thereby know how to bring good out of evil? would it fortify my mind under misfortunes? or teach me to be moderate in prosperity, by forming a proper estimate of men and things? or would it enable me to regulate my passions by my understanding? In science, what am I to expect from it? Will it instruct, me in moral, mechanical, or philosophical principles? or shall I procure to myself a more correct knowledge of the properties of a triangle or the principles upon which the lever acts than I could have done if ignorant of any other language than my own? Perhaps the most powerful argument that can be adduced in favour of the study of the learned languages is, that they are the reposi tories of our religion, and that upon a subject so highly interesting, no one should be constrained to take any thing upon trust, but should be enabled, if possible, to form a judgment for himself respecting the genuine meaning of the sacred writers. It is cer tainly probable, if not certain, that no translation of either the old or new Testa ment, or of any work in the dead languages, has ever fully conveyed all the ideas contained in the original, for I very much doubt, if the idiom of any language can be perfectly known to any but a native of the place in which it is spoken. Lady Worley Montague says, in one of her letters, what is most likely true, that a Roman milk-maid must have known more of the language of her country than the greatest scholars of the present day do. If, therefore, the combined efforts and labours of the learned can do so little for us, in this respect, what can any individual expect to attain by his own personal assiduity, however great and in-. defatigable it may be? Is it not, therefore, folly to dissipate the season of childhood and youth in so unproductive a pursuit, calculated, indeed, very well to furnish employments for Monks in cloisters, excluded from the sympathies, the pleasures, and the du-the studying the orations of Cicero, who, of ties of the rest of mankind R. LEARNED LANGUAGES." No. 34. have neither any pretensions or lay any claim the all the orators that the world has yet produced, was the most intimately versed in the laws of his country, is likely to prove worse than useless to the lawyer? Is it not for the SIR In your Political Register of the good of mankind that the physician's know 21 ledge of his art in theory, as well as in praetice, should be as extensive as possible? How can that knowledge, which you cannot but confess is most necessary, be acquired, but by the attentive perusal of the most learned treatises composed upon this subject? And the greatest physician of antiquity wrote in the Greek language. How can the priest be more clearly or easily convinced of the superior excellence of his own religion than by comparing it with the ridiculous theology of the ancients, and by studying the works of the first pious converts to the Christian faith? All the best writers on the various subjects with which it is absolutely necessary that the statesman, legislator, lawyer, physician, and priest should be acquainted, have written in the Latin and Greek languages, and, so badly are their works translated; that, to read them in any other language than the original, is indeed worse than useless. Unluckily, Mr. C. you are yourself ignorant of the Latin and Greek languages; but some friend of your's more fortunate in that respect will perhaps explain to you, that Epistle of Horace to Lollius, in which he descants on the utility of studying the Iliad, and on the various beauties and excellencies of that wonderful and immortal poem; and the opinion of the friend. of Mecenas and Augustus is not unworthy of the deference of Mr. Cobbett. When you are fully persuaded, as you soon will be, that the study of the Iliad is not worse than useless, request the same friend to explain to you the first 2 or 3 odes of the 3d book, and much as the original excellence of the great Horace must be impaired and injured, by any attempt at rendering his works into the English language; answer me candidly and honestly, and tell me whether you do not think the moral precepts contained in those odes well worthy of the serious attention and consideration of every thinking man, Does Mr. Cobbett imagine that the study of his Register will be worse than useless to a Foreigner, some hundred years hence. I dare affirm he does not. He will say, that although the circumstances of the times may be changed, yet the vices will still be the same and require the same reprehension: So they will, Mr. Cobbett; and I recommend the learning of the English language to foreigners some hundred years hence, for the very same reason that I now defend the teaching of the latin language to the gentlemen of England of the present day; namely, that they may read in the original, those works, which no translation ever can do justice to.-E. L.Eton, Feb. 23, 1807. : LEARNED LANGUAGES." No. 35. SIR, A plain well meaning man is now so puzzled by the various opinions on education, that he knows not what system to pursue for the instruction of his family We have no medium between the common routine of writing and arithmetic, and the study of the dead languages at our national seminaries; no diversity of system which might enable a father to place his son in a course of education, necessary to assist him in his fu ture prospects. At our private schools a boy is harassed with Latin, Greek, French, Italian, writing, and arithmetic, and at sixteen is found to have little or no knowledge of either the master in many instances in competent to teach-in some the pupil incapacitated to learn; nevertheless the fees are paid, and the poor youth has but little benefit. The parent may be blamed," but "the fault of well meaning ignorance "aught to be pitied not despised." A youth placed at one of our national foundations, is necessitated to wade for years through Latin and Greek if he has been studious, he acquires a slight knowledge of each language; but for want of persevering in his studies, and from the occupations of an active life, forgets in a short period what was the object of eight or ten years application. It should be considered that the system of education pursued at our great schools and in our universities, was fixed at a time when the study of the dead languages was necessary for every one in the superior professions; and as education was not expected to be found in any one unconnected with those professions, the system of that period might be right, but it made a monopoly of knowledge in those classes, and kept the other part of society in darkness and ignorance. The study of the learned languages at that period, was indispensably necessary, for Latin was the standard language for all works of consequence on every subject, and an author considered his character degraded, if he communicated his researches in any other language. That system is now exploded, and as we have translations of every work in the Latin or Greek, a reform in the method of education is much wanted. The lawyers of the present day, I' think, are but little indebted to their classical education for any eminence in their profession; few of them after having served the period of their articles could construe a page of Virgil, or a line of Homer; but they continue to deceive the ignorant by their display of Latin, and if a butcher has a consultation on the renewal of his lease: he is told, his business must be considered ab ini ! tax tio, his lease must commence de novo, and quasi the clause of paying the property which his landlord insists on, it is not tenable by the 46 Geo. 3d. Caput 65. The poor man goes away astonished at the learning of his legal adviser, and of consequence, that his son may shine in the same exalted sphere, gives him a Latin education. But men of sense are not to be scared with this display of Jearning, this folly of words, more applicable to the language of a parrot, than a sensible being.The divines of the present day are necessitated to go through what is termed a classical education; namely, pass through the principal forms of Westminster or Eton, and attend a certain number of terms at Oxford or Cambridge-few of them I believe after two years absence from college, could read without a dictionary a page of Erasmus; and it cannot be denied, but that they are more indebted to interest and favour for an exalted situation, thap to any knowledge of Greek or Latin, or of Hebrew. Then why is so much time thrown away in endeavouring to acquire a small knowledge of the dead languages, when, even in the higher professions, it is notorious they are of so little utility, and it certainly goes to shew that the time devoted to them is mis pent, and that the whole system of education in our schools is founded in error, and inapplicable to the present state of knowledge.—If some one of sound sense, and acquaintance with the authors of our language, added to a knowledge of the languages spoken at this time in Europe, would mark out a system of education, he would confer a great benefit on the rising generation, and root out from our national foundations, the system of the dark ages of popery and ignorance. The character of a mere scholar, will always be considered by men of sense and genius, as a nouentity in the world,' and however pleasing his intense study may be, it is a selfish gratification, it benefits no one, it shuts him from the world, and precludes the possibility of his giving to any but a select few the least information or pleasure. If he publishes the result of his studies, it is great chance but it tends to support some learned disquisition, the object of which is to prove, that several of the antients have made a false quantity; that several lines in Horace are improperly pointed; or that Troy did not stand where it has been considered to be for several centuries.-Thi accomplished, the student is dumb for ever. His work, (in the booksellers' phrase) are a mere drug, and con-signed to the warehouse as waste-paper.Without an intense study, or the slightest LEARNED LANGUAGES." I have been much interested, and, in some instances, instructed, by reading the numerous letters you have published, in your valuable Register, on the subject. of the learned languages; but, I must confess, that in my opinion, the writers on both sides of the question have often improperly deviated from your plain and simple proposition, that as a part of general education the sturdy of the leaned languages is worse than useless, and have introduced matter quite irrelevant to the subject, and which can have no other tendency than to bewilder the reader. For my part, I think the question lies in a very narrow compass, and in order to form a right judgment respecting it, we have only need of that portion of common sense, of which very few men are destitute. I intend, therefore, to be very brief, and to confine myself, in a great measure, to a few plain facts. I have always been of opinion, that learning is only useful, as it enables a man to discharge the duties of a citizen, with the greatest. benefit to society. If this position be granted (and I cannot believe any one will seriously deny it) it may be fairly asked, cau a man without a knowledge of the dead lauguages, perform these duties as usefully as one who is completely master of them? I say completely; because, the advocates, for the dead languages, will not allow, thar, without a critical knowledge of these languages, their beauties can be understood or felt-nay, they go farther, and say, the best translations fall infinitely below the originals. Now, if we read modern history, or examine a chronological list of the most eminent characters that have flourished since the revival of letters,, we must perceive that men of the most eminent talents, the inventors of the most useful arts, the asserters of national liberty, have received lite or no classical education whatever. It willy be sufficient to mention, Gionia, the inventor of the compass, Columbus, Washington, and our countryman Brindsley, the engineer and mechanic, all of whom, I believe, never enjoyed the beauties of classic lore. On the contrary, we shall find, that the most eminent linguists, who have passed their lives in making and reading commentaries, have seldom possessed any talents, that were serviceiable to society.-They have invented no useful arts, have proposed no improvements in politics or jurisprudence, and have perhaps only been known to the learned world! Professor Porson and Dr. Parr have been brought forward by an advocate for the study of the learned languages, and I should be very unwilling to mention their names with disrespect; but they cannot be ranked among the benefactors of the human race. There is no people on the face of the earth that would regard them in this light, because they understood the dead languages better than their own! I think every impartial person who acknowledges the above facts, must be convinced, that a man may be great and useful in the highest degree, without a knowledge of Greek or Latin. But the subject takes a more serious form, when it is considered, that perhaps not one person in a thousand who is forced to spend 8 or 9 years of the prime of life in this laborious study of the dead languages, obtains a sufficient knowledge of them, to enable him to enjoy their beauties, or understand the ancient authors better than he I can in a translation of them into his own tongue! and is not the devotion of so much time to a study of the dead languages, with so little chance of ever understanding them, a very serious evil? I allow that modern literature is in some respects indebted to the Greeks and Romans, but the utility of their writings should not be overrated: does not an indiscriminate study of them tend to repress genius, and by trammeling the mind with authorities, deprive it of that free scope and exertion, which are requisite for its improvement. I think that Hume, in one of his essays, considers the subject in this light, and gives it as his opinion, that if the writings of the ancients could be destroyed and forgotten, human ingenuity would be exerted in a greater degree, and consequently carried to much greater perfection. But it may be asked, what will you do with the learned languages? will you discard them altogether? as a part of general education, I do not in the least hesitate to answer in the affirmative. X. O Verborum inops interdum, quibus abundare te semper putas, Græcia !Cicero. Tusc Quæst. 1. 2. c. 85. SIR;It is certainly a very strange thing, that in an age like this, where such regard is paid to the advancement of learning, any one should attempt to depreciate it in the eyes of the world; still more wonderful that this learned censor should be, Mr. Cobbett, for whom we have some regard while he confines himself to political discussions, but for whom we naturally feel contempt when he betrays his ignorance upon subjects totally out of his sphere.-It is wonderful how little minds are guided by prejudice, who imagine that their dislike is the dislike of the nation, and their own voice the voice of the people. "Their passions move in lower spheres, Where'er caprice or folly steers." Swift. -Are the "Learned Languages" of no use to the statesman, to the lawyer, to the phy. sician, or to the divine? Ask any one eminent man in this kingdom, if independent of the amusement, he has reaped any advantage from the study of the Greek and Latin languages; and they will answer you to a man in the words of Quintilian: "Tot nos preceptoribus, tot exemplis instruxit antiquitas, ut possit videri nullâ sorte nasscente ætas felicior, quam nostrâ, cui docendæ priores elaboraverunt."-Lib. 12. cap. 11.-I shall not attempt a vindication of the "Learned Languages." Their fame is sufficient, and Mr. Cobbett may vainly. flatter himself that his reasonings will demolish' every argument that shall be brought against him. Happy am I to perceive that the Universities have not deigned a reply; and, by their contempt and silence, have shewn Mr. Cobbett how much they value his opinions, how much they regard his censure. I`conclude with the opinion Pope had for the Learned Languages,' whe humbly differed from this political Proteus."Hail bards triumphant ! born in happier days; Immortal heirs of universal praise! Whose honors with increase of ages grow Printed by Cox and Baylis, No. 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Brydges Street Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre Pall-Mall |