138 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
happy as to live in a daily and intimate intercourse with the Greek language and 
literature, with those old and immortal masters of European culture, know what they 
are and how rich they are. They know how ‘much they themselves owe to the Greek 
spirit, to Hellenism, and it is their credo that there is no substitute for the study of 
Greek. It is their belief that the study of Greek literature, Greek philosophy, Greek 
poetry, and Greek science is much more, is unspeakably more than to learn a language, 
than to read several authors. It is, so to say, to drink from the oldest, purest, richest 
sources of European civilization. It is to lay the most firm foundation for an idealistic 
view, for a high and broad view of life. Tt is perhaps the best way, the natural starting 
point of an historical education, the best warrant of what the Germans call moral free- 
Jom—that is, the freedom of an unprejudiced and comprehensive mind. 
Proressor Suorry, of the University of Chicago, said : Man is not a logical ani- 
mal, and questions of this kind are rarely decided by sheer stress of argument. But 
since there is little which I could wish to add to the direct presentation of his thesis, 
given by my colleague, Professor Hale, I will venture, in the few words I have to say, to 
inflict a little of the dialectics of the subject upon you. 
We all of us probably remember the scene in *‘ Daniel Deronda” in which Sir Hugh 
Mallinger remarks that he has forgotten all his Greek ; but still it did him good, it 
‘ormed his English, which, by the way, is rather hesitating and faltering ; and we all 
remember the respectful silence that Daniel Deronda himself observed in the face of 
this declaration. I generally feel inclined to preserve a similar respectful silence in 
she presence of most of the arguments which it is my misfortune to hear in defence of 
Greek, The paper of to-day was a happy exception. Nevertheless, even in to-day’s 
debate it is to be noted that nearly every one of the very able and tellingly put points 
made by the distinguished president of the scientific university in the West, were made 
against arguments in favor of Greek that will not bear scrutiny, arguments that 
fairly made me cringe when I heard them—the etymological argument, for example; a 
mere argumentative stop-gap employed in default of more serious reasons—or the idea 
shat Greek should be required of everybody as the one thing needful, a point that is 
aot seriously made by the true defenders of Greek. The real educational issue raised, 
apart from those telling retorts against weak and indefensible arguments—the real 
educational issue he raised was the challenge to produce sufficient reason for establish- 
ing distinct degrees of B.S. and A.B., and sufficient, fair, and serious practical modern 
sducational reasons for reserving one of these degrees as a distinctive degree for the 
course in which Greek plays an important part. That was the sole serious educational 
issue raised by his amusing persiflage of the *‘ blue and yellow gowns.” 
I will ask you to watch me closely and see whether I do not answer this challenge 
before I have done. But before entering upon that matter I wish to clear the debate of 
one or two irrelevancies constantly brought forward in the discussion of this question. 
In the first place, it is proposed to compel nobody to study Greek. It is proposed by 
she advocates of Greek to compel those who want the degree of A.B. to study Greek, 
there being concurrent degrees of B.S. and Ph.B. Therefore all questions of compelling 
men to study Greek are questions not relevant to the subject. 
Secondly, it is often stated (I am still clearing away irrelevancies)—the argument is 
often advanced that Greek is not practical. That is a question for a man to decide 
before he goes to college at all. The very idea of a liberal education in this country, 
and I hope it will always remain so, is that a man has a certain amount of leisure for 
disinterested culture ; and I should be very much interested, as Charles Lamb once 
said, to ““ examine the bumps of the gentleman,” and to investigate the processes of 
ratiocination that would lead to the conclusion that Middle High German is a more 
oractical study than Greek for a practicing attorney, and that the comparative anat- 
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