of this sort. Of course if one is to enter upon extended and original investigation he should be able to read the Vedas. Yet much of real value may be done without the trouble of mastering the Devanagari alphabet. Let post-graduate students enter upon that. Another thought, before leaving this branch of the subject. That view of college education which makes gold-getting the immediate, and, perchance, the only aim, we cannot regard as a laudable one. If to win wealth is the chief end of man, that student is wise who asks, as one once did of me, "What shall I study that will help me to get rich?" It is true that trained men are able, generally speaking, to make money faster than untrained men; but the purpose of college work, we hold, is broader and nobler than merely aiding people to accumulate fortunes, and die in palatial houses. Our young men are often advised, by those who know little or nothing of educational life, to pursue only such lines of study as are supposed to lead directly to the gates of Plutus. As the sole motive for entering college, these men of the world hold out the alluring enticement of prospective finaucial gain. A boy is bidden to look only toward those subjects which are big with promises of wonderful inventions; perchance of new heating, propelling, and illuminating agencies; of improvements on the steam engine and the electric light. Or his attention is directed to the possibility of soon becoming a millionaire by some chemical discovery which will enable him to gain a monopoly of the soap market. If the subject of language is mentioned, these men are emphatic in their advice to study only living modern languages, "which will do you some good." Now every college man of observation and judgment knows full well that not one student in a score, perhaps not one in a hundred, ever makes any such use as is commonly called "practical" of his attainments in physics, in chemistry, in zoology or in botany. We know, too, that the prospect is small for any particular student to go as an ambassador to European courts, or to sit in a congress of the nations, even if his college work in modern language could fit him to do so. Not many will become clerks in corner groceries, or otherwise engage in business in localities where proficiency in the scholarly phases of some modern language will be of great money value to them. This penny-wise notion of college work is erroneous and pernicious. We base our demand for a generous and symmetrical course of study on higher than mere financial grounds. 66 Philosophy bakes no bread," and philology builds no factories; but that wisdom is not yet antiquated which has held that such matters as the product of the oven with the smoke of many factories and great coffers of cold cash- do not fill all the measure of human need. I pray you not to mistake my objections to a false and harmful idea of what college education should have in view, for opposition to certain lines of college work. Far from it. Every department is of value, and each one has, to some extent, its separate and special mission to perform. What we want is a wellbalanced course, which will develop the student's strength in a harmonious way. We know not- he knows not - what his future will be. When maturity comes, when his tastes manifest themselves, when he knows his own mind, the specially trained man often finds himself and his training at serious odds. But more than for fitness for some pursuit, give us a broad and wholesome course of study, with all departments represented, that we may prepare young people to be men and women. Whatever fate one's future holds, His college days their light shall throw. III. But how shall we find room, in a four years' course, for the large number of subjects that are demanding recognition? How shall we find room for comparative philology? This general question, as it has repeatedly arisen, has been differently answered by the various colleges. In some, old subjects have been dropped out, or given less time, in order to make room for the new claimants. In others, a plurality of courses has been arranged, with the new subjects conspicu ous in some of them, while the old ones were retained in others. Recently another mode of dealing with the difficulty has come into prominence. New subjects are added to the latter portion of the curriculum, and the old ones are retained. Then after a certain amount of symmetrical training the student, as he begins to know himself, is given some liberty of choice as to what lines of work he will pursue. The advantages of a general and of some special training are thus secured; and that fierceness of opposition to the old standards which has made itself so noisy of late, and which is engendered chiefly in the determination to make room for some new favorite, is allayed. An adequate and satisfactory solution of our difficulty has been found. The elective system, in some modification or variety of form, has come; and it has evidently come to stay. We can readily find room for comparative philology. IV. If we are right so far: if our subject is indeed a science; if it is of real educational value; if we can make a place for it in the curriculum, will not the necessary means for teaching it be promptly forthcoming, as a matter of course? Not so. This is an age of many interests, crowding and pressing upon one another. Any matter, be it ever so valuable, must make itself heard and felt before it will be recognized. In this era, so largely devoted to material interests, the very title of our subject stands in the way of its general popularity. College trustees are usually business or professional men, who feel the forces of the world. If we are to impress upon our friends the truth as regards philology, we must speak, and speak often. We must remove that indefinite suspicion which will probably arise, that, somehow, this is nothing but the study of the classics, under a different name. When we make over this subject half the outcry that is made over biology or chemistry; when we demand the wherewithal with half the definiteness and persistency, we may hope to see several professorships of comparative philol ogy established in Ohio colleges. There are already a few such professorships established in our country; but I have as Each of our well endowed Do not understand me to yet noted none in this State. institutions ought to support one. say that this subject is not taught in Ohio. In some of our colleges I know that that is being done; but it is done in a manner so secondary, and to an extent so meagre, that it scarcely deserves to be recognized as distinct from the language in connection with which this instruction is given. Language teachers will naturally be the first to be interested, and the first to speak in its behalf. When we have done what we can; when college presidents have given the merits of this subject a candid examination; when all friends of symmetrical and truly scientific training have seen this matter as it is, we may expect that the necessary means for teaching it will be forthcoming. A few more words, and I am done. Public interest has been somewhat aroused on the general subject of language versus science. We offer here a science, with linguistic data for its foundation. We call scholars to a field that is fresh and attractive, with ample opportunities for original investigation. There is no need to wait for the spring-time, as for blossoms or bugs, nor to repair to some favored region of the earth, as for fossils. In all seasons and in all countries our facts are at hand. If we sometimes dig for roots, we as often cull linguistic flowers; and if we sometimes mine for dark and hidden things, we as often bring to light precious gems, crystals of beautiful sentiment and thought. I would that time were left me in which to point out some of the indirectly helpful relations and results of philological study. Merely as a matter of common information it is worth one's notice. As the handmaid of history and the cornerstone of ethnology it is indispensable. The study of every language is affected by its revelations. The grammars of the Latin and the Greek have been rewritten in its light. And the alumnus of a score of years is wide of the mark when he discusses classical studies and does not take into account the improvements since his college days. To one who has b come familiar with philological principles, and has formed the habit of observing illustrations of them, pleasant and perpetual opportunities are afforded. The indirect benefits and interesting phases of the subject are numerous. The science is in a state of growth, vigorous, and very promising. To him who has a taste for philosophizing, a wide field is opened. In the light of geology and astronomy we may speculate concerning the origin of the world, and a nebular hypothesis is produced; in the light of zoology and paleontology the question of the origin of species may be more intelligently considered; so in the light of comparative philology theories are built up concerning the origin of language, the unity of the race, and the condition of primeval man. The consideration of the nature of the mind, and of its powers of expression, is necessarily involved; we are led into a broad and comprehensive study of the mental characteristics of mankind; and we find ourselves in the way of rendering obedience to the famous mandate inscribed on the temple of the oracle at Delphi, KNOW THYSELF. Prof. W. D. Shipman. ARTICLE XIV. Christianity in Rome During the First Century. PART I. Rome was a mistress among empires. "She sat upon her seven hills, and from her throne of beauty ruled the world."1 Within the century before Christ, Pompey, waging war, captured many Jews, and carried them, as slaves to this city of the great realm. But a colony of slaves could do nothing,there was no power in so small a company,- so thought those in authority, who permitted them to gather themselves together for worship, as of old, and though in servitude, they could recall the patriarchs, priests and prophets. As long as 1 Mary R. Mitford in "Rienzi to the Romans." |