Junior Debate Speech of Wilbur F. Foster for the Dialectic Society, 1858: "Are the Ancient
Languages Worthy the Place Which They Now Hold in the Course of Education?"
Speech of W. F. Foster of Ala.
Junior Debate for 1858
Question: "Are the Ancient
Languages worthy the place which they now hold in the course of education"?
Innovations are generally unfavorably regarded. The world is such a slave to old ideas and old
prejudices that any proposition which tends to the overthrow of established systems is look upon
with suspicion and jealousy and its authors with scorn and contempt. But this is an age of progress
and improvement. It is essentially a new era in the world's history. New lights are bursting upon
the world. The mists of ignorance and error in which it has long been enveloped are fast being
dissipated. Truths in every department of life which have for ages been hidden are now being
revealed. Old systems and old ideas are being exploded and new ones developed. The spirit of
improvement is every where displaying itself. The intellects of the age are busily engaged in
devising means for the mental, moral, and social advancements of the human race. And every question
which affects the interests of man however hostile in its nature to esisting systems deserves nay
demands the calm and impartial consideration of all reflecting men. Such is the question which we
are to discuss today. It affects the great cause of education, that cause the most intimately
connected with the best interests of man kind and which indeed lies at the very foundation of life.
In the Middle Ages when thick mental and moral darkness enveloped the world, when the human mind was
enslaved and the human heart corrupted by ignorance, superstition, and vices, when Literature and
Science were but names and religion a humbug the Latin and Greek languages being then the only
mediums for the communication of ideas were adopted into the course ofeducation. And notwithstanding the immense advances which Society has made in civilization
in everything which refines and ennobles human nature, notwithstanding that sciences at that time
unknown have been developed and are now shedding their lights into every department of life,
notwithstanding that the field for thought and study has been almost indefinitely extended and the
source of knowledge indefinitely multiplied, and notwithstanding that the modern languages some of
them at least have been brought to a degree of perfection unattained by any of the ancient, the
Latin and Greek have been retained and now two thirds of the time spent at school is devoted to the
study of these languages. It is at least a debatable question whether they promote the objects of
education sufficiently to justify the attention they receive and the spirit of improvement which so
eminently characterizes the present age demands that it should be investigated. The great objects of
education are the cultivation and disciplines of the intellectual faculties, the storing of the mind
with useful knowledge, and the development and refinement of the moral qualities. And such studies
are to be preferred as are in the highest degree calculated to promote these several objects. The
argument most often advanced by the advocates of the present system of education in favor of these
ancient languages is that the study of these offer a useful exercise to the mind and thereby
accomplish the first and most important object of education — the cultivation and
discipline of the mental faculties. But I am seriously disposed to doubt that the study of language
is at all so beneficial in this respect as is claimed. The very nature seems to me a complete
refutation of the argument.Language is either arbitrarily assumed or is the result of circumstances and accident. It
is not founded on any fixed natural principles nor is it the result of natural causes. That certain
words should express certain ideas and that certain ideas should require certain constructions of
words is purely accidental or arbitrary. Language does not therefore present a field for original
thought nor can it be arrived at by a course of logical reasoning founded on fixed and known
principles. But is in the several operations of thought, reason, and judgment that the exercise of
the mind consists by which exercise its faculties are cultivated and disciplined. The student cannot
depend upon original efforts of his own mind for a knowledge of the ancient languages but is
compelled to refer to collateral aids. His principal business is research. As an illustration we
will suppose a sentence in the Greek to be presented to him for translation. He cannot arrive at a
knowledge of the idea therein contained by any effort of his own mind. He has first to refer to the
Lexicon for the deffinitions of the words, then to his grammar for their different cases and tenses
and for the grammatical rules to be applied to the construction. Thus the study of language becomes
an operation of attention and memory rather than of the nobler faculties of the mind. It is true
that the proper application of the grammatical to the constructions of words requires some skill on
the part of the student and it is in this respect that the study of language exercises the mind. But
it is obvious that this exercise is limited and altogether insufficient to justify the great length
of time which is at present devoted to the study of the ancient languages. For we well know that in
the study of these languages the same efforts of the mindare required throughout. The advanced student meets with the same difficulties as he who is
comparatively a beginner. The same constructions appear in nearly every line and the same rules are
to be applied. And it is obvious that after a certain point in the course is reached the study of
the language ceases to offer a useful exercise to the mind calling into action none of its faculties
except the memory. It becomes after this one continued succession of recollections. There are other
considerations also which cannot but be noticed. Philosophers have adopted it as a principle of
education that when the mind is engaged in the study of a single subject for a long time and
especially when it is employed in the consideration of minute details of facts and ideas it is
narrowed and contracted and rendered incapable of enlarged views and great ideas. A higher degree of
cultivation of particular faculties of the mind than of others is productive of more injury than if
it were left free to follow its own natural bents and inclinations. In order to a proper discharge
of its various functions some comprehensive system of study must be devised which will give to each
of its faculties its due proportion of exercises and which will well balance and liberalize the
mind. What are the claims of the ancient languages in this respect? Here the mind is chained down
for years to the study of a subject which involves no important principles or great ideas and which
does not call forth its great elements & power. Can it then be reasonably expected that
after being directed to these subjects for so long a time the mind will be enlarged, liberalized,
and fitted for healthy action and sound judgement. May we not on this contrary expect that it will
be narrowed and contracted and incapacitated for that comprehensiveness of view and liberality of
ideas on every subject that maybe presented to it which are so essentially necessary to a proper discharge of the great
duties of life. The results we witness certainly justify us in this conclusion. For look abroad over
the world and examine the characters of those who have devoted their lives to the study of the
ancient classics and who set themselves up as authorities on these subjects. Do you find these
characterized by great powers of mind and noble qualities of heart, by depth and comprehensiveness
of thought, by strength of understanding and soundness of judgment, by liberality of sentiment and
purity of feeling? Do you find their names in the catalogue of the benefactors of mankind? You do
not. They are narrow minded and selfish. They have been taught to think in certain contracted
channel and they never rise above it. Their talents have been perverted, their energies misapplied,
their lives misspent, and their natures degraded. Another branch of intellectual education is
instruction of the storing of the mind with useful knowledge. Considered in references to this end
the study of the ancient languages is evidently deficient. The facts recorded by the ancient authors
are not at all applicable at the present day. The customs and modes of life of the ancients were
entirely different from ours while they are far behind us in their ideas of the great subjects which
affect the condition of man. No knowledge therefore of any practical utility in the present age can
be derived from the ancient languages. But it is said that the Latin and Greek are the foundations
of the English and that by the study of these and by comparing them with our own language we are
able more accurately to learn the latter. But is well known that in the constructions of words and
the principles of grammar the ancient languages bear no analogy whatever to the English and that the
Latin and Greek derivatives in the latter are largely in minority when compared with the Saxon.
Therefore a thorough knowledge of theof the English does not presuppose a knowledge of the Latin & Greek. If it is
necessary to study a foreign language in order that we may see more clearly and appreciate more
fully the peculiar beauties of our own why not study one of the modern languages which will at the
same time serve the purpose above mentioned and be of frequent use to us in the everday business of
life. This certainly seems the most judicious as well as the most economical course. On the whole
the idea that our language that in which we are brought up and which we learn almost by intuition
cannot be acquired but by the study of languages which were spoken thousands of years ago and which
increased civilization and refinement have swept from the face of the earth is so utterly absurd as
to be unworthy of serious consideration. But that system of education would necessarily be imperfect
which regarded the intellect alone to the exclusion of the heart and moral nature of man. And
although moral education more appropriately belonged to the domestic fireside still it cannot safely
be neglected in the schoolroom. The subjects to which the attention of the student is directed and
the ideas with which his mind is familiarized necessarily influences the formation of his character
as well for qualities of heart as for powers of intellect. And such subjects should be presented to
him as not only tied to the cultivation of his mental faculties but also to the development and
refinement of his moral qualities. For this purpose the study of the ancient languages is manifestly
unsuitable. For not only does it exert a deleterious influence in the formation of the moral
character in that it narrows the mind and excludes the possibility of comprehensive views and
liberal sentiments but its influence is more directly injurious. The ancient Greeks & Romans
were heathens. They were unconscious of the existence of a God and knew nothing of the Bible. The ideas of morality and of the duties
and responsibilities of man were narrow and degraded. Their Philosophers were superstitious and
selfish, their Poets &Historians licentious and their military Heroes barbarous and cruel. The characters
delivered in the writings of the best ancient authors and the models held up for the imitation of
their readers are immoral in the extreme and yet the student is taught to see in these the very
personification of intellectual and moral excellences. What impressions are such studies calculated
to upon his mind? Can it be expected that after being familiarized with the licentious sentiments of
a Horace or an
recommended as these are by
Genius of the highest order he will come off untainted by their moral impurities? Most assuredly
not. The power of association is too strong and human nature too weak and too prone to evil to
resist successfully their corrupting influences. They tend most directly to render abortive the
efforts of the great philanthropists of the age to moralize the world. I have this briefly and
imperfectly presented some of the objections to the study of the ancient languages and I candidly
think they are of sufficient importance if not to determine the banishment from our schools and
colleges at least the withdrawal of the almost exclusive attention at present bestowed upon them. It
may however be asked what branches of learning may be substituted for the ancient languages. I
answer the natural sciences. These are in the highest degree calculated to promote all the objects
of education. Truly it has been said that language is a fabric built by Him who is greater than man.
Its plan is infinitely beyond the conception of the human mind and the adaptation of all its parts,
its beauty and its grandeur are such as characterizes no creation of man. It was built for man to
live in. Its elements, its phenomena, and its applications were intended to supply his wants and
serve his purposes. The study of its laws and of the intimate relation between cause and effect in
its construction and the explanation of its phenomena on fixed natural principles call into action
all the great powers of the human mind and give to it strength and vigor grasp of thought and enlargement[Blank Page]of comprehension, while a knowledge of all this is absolutely indispensable to the
successful accomplishment of the great ends of life. But the moral effects of the natural sciences
are even more important. In contemplating the grand phenomena of the material world, the laws by
which it is regulated and the wonderful adaptation of these to the circumstances of man our minds
are filled with more enlarged ideas and more elevated conceptions of the greatness and goodness of God. We are taught to see in these the works of a kind and beneficent hand
and we are involuntarily to reverence and adore it. Our hearts are purified, our moral nature
refined, and our minds exalted. Such are the benefits flowing from the study of the natural
sciences. And now I would ask in all sincerity considering the greater importance and the more
substantial claim of other branches of knowledge what apology can there be for the time and
attention bestowed upon the ancient languages in our schools and colleges? Is it said that they have
been handed down to us by our Fathers and therefore should be preserved with all the care of a relic
of past ages. Surely such considerations are unworthy of the age in which we live, unworthy in fact
of the human mind. Are we ever blindly to submit to the dictates of an ignorant and superstitious
ancestry? Is the human mind to be forever a slave to the prejudices of a barbarous and ignorant era
merely because they carry with them the mark of time? If so our civilization is useless and all
human progress an absurdity. Then away with such considerations. Let human nature no longer be
burdened by the shackles by which it has for ages been bound to the earth. Let it break from them
and march onward in its glorious career until it attains that approximation to the Divine nature to
which it is finally destined.