THE GREEK QUESTION. II.

Since the first article on the subject of the Greek question was printed in this paper, numerous reviews of Prof. White's pamphlet have appeared in different journals throughout the country. The Popular Science Monthly, the most prominent organ of the opponents of classical culture, has devoted a very large proportion of its space to the subject, treating it however from a purely practical standpoint. These articles, of course, present the case from the most extreme "scientific" point of view and their effect is diminished by the fact that their writers have in most cases allowed their zeal to get the better of their discretion. At the risk of offering old news to our readers, we will give a short account of the history of the contest in Germany, clipping mainly from Prof. White's preface.

"A decree issued at Berlin on Dec. 7, 1870, by the Royal Minister of Public Instruction, Dr. Von Muhler, granted to subjects of Prussia who had completed the full course of study in a Realschule of the first rank, the right of matriculation in the Philosophical Faculty of any Prussian University for the purpose of studying Mathematics, the Physical and Natural Sciences, or Modern Foreign Languages. By this removal of restrictions which heretofore had practically barred the way to University studies for those who had not received their preparatory training at a Gyninasium, a new set of requisitions for admission was recognized, and a new element was introduced into the Universities. The Prussian Realschule of the first rank, as compared with the Gymnasium, entirely dispenses with Greek in its course of study reduces the time devoted to Latin by nearly one-half, introduces English, gives greater attention to German, doubles the time devoted to French, more than doubles that given to Physical and Natural Sciences, and increases that allotted to Mathematics by nearly one half."

"The decree of 1870 had been proceeded in 1869 by a note, addressed by the Minister of Public Instruction to the Faculties of the various Universities in Prussia, asking their opinion upon the question whether young men who had received their preparatory training in a Realschule should be admitted to the Universities, and, if they were admitted, under what restrictions this should be done. The answers, taken as a whole, were distinctly opposed to the Minister's implied proposal. The decree was nevertheless issued and went into immediate effect."

After ten years of experiment the question was brought to the attention of the faculty of Berlin and the result of their investigations is embodied in the address of Prof. Hoffman in the following statement "that all efforts to find a substitute for the Classical Languages, whether in Mathematics, in the Modern Languages, or in the Natural Sciences, have been hitherto unsuccessful; that, after long and vain search, we must always come back finally to the result of centuries of experience, that the surest instrument that can be used in training the mind of youth is given us in the study of the languages, the literature, and the works of art of classical antiquity." Speaking further on the subject, Prof. Hoffman says "There is accordingly no lack of practical experience, and the result is that the belief which had already been entertained has been strengthened. Ideality in academic study, unselfish devotion to science for its own sake, and that unshackled activity of thought which is at once the condition and the consequence of such devotion, retire more and more into the background as the classical groundwork of our mental life found in the Gymnasium is withdrawn from the pre-university course. This is, to be sure, in the first instance, only a personal belief drawn from personal experience; but I will not omit to say that I have had abundant opportunity to discuss the subject with friends connected with the physical and mathematical sciences, and I have found them almost without exception firm in the same conviction." The main point is very emphatically touched upon by the university faculty in their report of 1869. "In regard to the natural sciences, the most mutable of our chemists and physicists, as well as the representatives of the other departments, agree that the students from the Gymnasia on the average accomplish more. It is the general experience that the foretastes of these sciences obtained in the Realschule frequently dulls rather than stimulates eagerness for knowledge. Still less are the modern languages able to take the place of Greek and Latin; for, since as a rule the only thing aimed at in their study is a certain facility of use, they cannot serve in equal manner as an instrument of culture. The main point is that the instruction given in the Realschule lacks a central point; hence the unsteadiness in its system of teaching. It embraces a collection of studies most of which cannot be pursued with the requisite thoroughness within the limits of the school. In a word, it has not been possible to find an equivalent for the classical languages as a centre of instruction; and therefore the university cannot deem it advisable for the state to cease to require a Gymnasium training for its future functionaries." There is no doubt about the sincerity of the faculty who wrote this report, and the fact that this faculty, composed in a large degree of men whose special attention was given to purely scientific subjects, reiterated this opinion in such strong terms in 1880 adds great weight to the views of the classicists.

G.