ALL GAUL

With the decline of the emphasis put on Latin and Greek in the preparatory schools the Freshman has been increasingly prone to begin college with little or no knowledge of the Classics. If he then feels this gap in his knowledge and desires to remedy it, he discovers that in order to do so he must go through the lengthy process of learning Latin and Greek, must, in fact, devote a considerable portion of his college career to it. This, of course, is sufficient to deter most students, and cause them to fall back upon the unsatisfactory plan of attempting to get a smattering of erudition by desultory, individual reading.

Obviously the ideal solution would be for the colleges to force the secondary schools to give a thorough training in Latin and Greek. But until this is done what is needed is a short cut, which would enable a man to get a good knowledge of the Classics within the confines of a single course. There is only one way in which this may be obtained; namely, by establishing a course in which the ancient authors would be given translation, thus eliminating the great time wasting factor. Such a course would naturally have as a basis the reading of the writers of antiquity, and with this as a foundation the lecturer could devote himself not so much to criticism or interpretation of the reading as to a general enunciation of the principle and essence of Classic civilization and culture. It is not likely that much would be lost by not doing the reading in the original, for in a course of this sort only the most important men would be read and for them there exist admirable translations; many of them possess intrinsic literary value of their own. Because of this and because of the broad general scope of the course it would prove worthwhile to men already well versed in the Classics; in fact, these men would derive the most benefit from it.

The cry of dilettantism is certain to be leveled at a course of this sort, and this can be avoided only partially when so much ground is to be covered. The difficulty can, however, be sidestepped if the tendency to turn the methods of large survey courses is overcome, and a real attempt made to give a course not so much in Classic literature as in the ideals of Classicism, in the wise tradition set by German 24. That a genuine need for something of the sort exists is certainly evident. Moreover, it is hard to see any reason why it should not be given for the Classics department is favorable to it. Efforts should be made to have it started next year if possible.