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title to be called the humanities. In any, reasonable scheme of liberal education, studies such as these deserve to retain their place. As Mr Freeman, one of their staunchest defenders, once said, let them be "the objects of a reasonable homage," not "of an exclusive superstition." Nothing, I believe, would tend more to confirm the position of classical studies in this country than a deeper and more systematic study of modern languages and literatures. Every addition to the clearness with which we see the continuity of literary tradition in Europe must add force to the words which Dante addresses to the shade of Virgil, Tu se' lo mio maestro e'l mio autore; for the relation of modern to ancient literature is that of a disciple who renounces no part of his originality or his independence when he acknowledges his debt to a master and a guide.