Page:Jesuit Education.djvu/363

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CLASSICAL STUDIES.
343

Carthage alone of all the more considerable states of antiquity.[1] But not this "nation of shop-keepers" has civilized the world, but poor Greece, whose culture, continued into the literature of Rome, together with the studies which it involves, has been the instrument of education, and the food of civilization, from the first times of the world down to this day.[2] May we not find a lesson in this fact? This country has made marvellous strides in industrial and commercial enterprise, but should it not aim at becoming a leader in the world of science, literature and art? In order to assume this leadership, the country must aim at thoroughness in education, and at solid, productive scholarship.[3] Now, so far the classical studies have proved the best basis of thorough education and solid scholarship, and doubtless will continue to do so in the future. The inference from this seems to be evident.

Fortunately, in this country, a reaction seems to have set in against the realistic tendency of our secondary schools, and people who have the real education of the nation at heart, are more and more converted to the conviction that the classical studies are most useful, if not necessary, for a liberal culture. It will be interesting to hear what the great journalist, Charles A. Dana, thought of the relation of classical studies to journalism. In a lecture delivered at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., October 13, 1893, he said: "Give the young man (who is entering upon journalism) a first class course of general education: and if

  1. Mommsen, History of Rome, vol. II, ch. 1.
  2. Newman, Idea of a University.
  3. See Professor Münsterberg's article in the Atlantic Monthly, May 1901.