i B BBI BM lff n ; a i 7&2 LINGUA LA TINA PRAECEPTOR A MASTER'S BOOK BY S. O. ANDREW, M.A. HEADMASTER OF WHITGIFT SCHOOL, CROYDON Omnis lingua usu potius discitur quam praeceptis, id est, audiendo, legendo, relegendo, imitationem manu et lingua temptando quam creberrume.' Comenius. oxford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1913 HENRY FROWDE, M.A. PUBLISHES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFOKD LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK, TORONTO MELBOURNE AND BOMBAY PEEFACE YhZ\Q' III* This little book is intended primarily as a master's companion to ' Primus Annus * ; but I have found it necessary, in writing it, to discuss some general prin- ciples of Direct Method teaching, and to indicate on broad lines the course of study in which 'Primus Annus ' occupies the place of beginners' book. I hope that this wider treatment may have added to the interest and usefulness of what I have written. It has struck me, since writing Chapter II, that I have not emphasized sufficiently how important it is that the teacher shall, at every stage, know and keep in mind the exact amount of knowledge possessed by the pupils both in vocabulary and in Grammar ; this is absolutely necessary, for otherwise he will continually be talking over their heads. I have to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. W. L. Paine and Mr. C. L. Main waring for supplying the materials for Chapters III and V, and Appendix II ; and to the same gentlemen and Dr. Rouse for useful criticism on many points. S. 0. A. 272853 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. On Learning a Language ... 7 II. The Teacher and his Instruments . 17 III. The Approach to Latin ... 23 IV. First Year Work : Its scope . . 27 Examples of Lessons from ' Primus Annus' 28 V. A Comparison of Methods ... 42 YI. Second Year Work : Its scope . . 48 Examples of Lessons ... 48 VII. The Place of Grammar . . . 53 The Note-book .... 57 Useful Phrases and Sentences . . 58 VIII. Third Year Work : Its scope . . 63 Examples of Lessons : Livy ii. 10 . 64 Ovid, Fast. ii. 195. 69 Composition . . 72 IX. Translation 75 X. Some Useful Exercises ... 80 XI. Some Objections Considered . . 85 Appendix I : The Phonetics of Latin . 92 Appendix II : Additional First Year Lessons : Fabulae .... 95 CHAPTER I ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE What is the object of learning Latin ? To this question there are many answers, all of which it would be tedious to enumerate. Two objects fre- quently specified are, first, to improve the learner's English, and, secondly, to provide a Gymnastic for training the reason : according to the latter view the ' reason ' is apparently the big muscle, the biceps muscle, of the brain, and Latin is a sort of weight- lifting which makes it strong. Now, it may be admitted at once that learning Latin ought to im- prove the learner's English, or at least his English vocabulary, because so many English words come from Latin ; it may be admitted, further, that Latin, like any other exercise which requires continuous effort and attention, will ' strengthen the mind ', what- ever be the exact meaning of this expression. Yet it is permissible to doubt whether the answers proposed have not completely missed the real object of learning Latin. If we were to ask a plain man what is the object of learning a language, he would almost certainly say 1 to speak it '. And surely he would be right, right in several ways. He would be right, in the first place, against those who think that the end is something, 8 " ON 'LEARNING A LANGUAGE some skill or state of mind, outside or apart from the material used. Language is an art, that is, it aims at producing something, and it is like all other arts, as Aristotle observed long ago, in the fact that its product is the same in kind as the separate acts (in this case, acts of speech) by which the learner attains his end. Why we should want to learn a language at all, and whether the learning of it has any ulterior end beyond learning it, we do not need to discuss at present ; but certainly the immediate end is to use language, that is, primarily, to speak it, which brings us to a second point. Our plain man is right in saying that the aim in learning a language is to 'speak' it, because here he lays his finger on the characteristic feature of language, namely that it is something spoken. Lan- guage is speech ; it is a ' significant sound ' produced musically, that is with a proper rhythm and intona- tion, by the organs of speech. This is the primary thing in language, all else is secondary. It may be objected that there are languages, e. g. ancient Egyp- tian, which nobody can speak or learn how to speak. But such languages are not real languages, they are fragmentary or fossil languages, or (in the true sense) dead languages. There are some who maintain that Latin is such a language, that we cannot know the rhythm of it, or even the pronunciation of it. To those who think so Latin is a dead language ; there is no more to be said. But it is difficult to under- stand the position of those who deny that Latin is a dead language (because to say so would not suit their argument), and yet treat it in their teaching as ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE 9 though it were a dead language. One wonders what they make of the plays of Terence or the colloquies of Erasmus, and how intimate writings like Cicero's Letters or Catullus's lyrics affect them. It is sometimes said that the Latin which boys have to learn is a literary language and not the familiar language of life. But literary language is always rooted in the familiar language of life; it is only more deliberate, more careful in its choice of words and their order. Will any one maintain the paradox that it is possible for a man to read with pleasure or to write effectively a language which he cannot speak with a sense of familiarity 1 Some of the noblest ' literary ' language in our tongue was intended to be spoken, and does not yield its full reward of pleasure until it is spoken, the plays of Shakespeare, for in- stance, or the speeches of Burke, or the sermons of Newman. We shall assume then that anybody learning a lan- guage is learning it for the purpose of using it, that is, primarily, for the purpose of speaking it. The question now arises, How is he to learn it 1 And the answer is that the best way to learn to speak it is to practise speaking it ; and, generally, the best way to learn to use it is to practise using it, by speaking it, singing it, reciting it, acting it, writing it, and doing with it whatever else a man does with a language that he knows. Now we are approaching the heart of the matter. In learning anything new we have to proceed from the known to the- unknown. The unknown, in this case, is a new language ; what is the ' known ', on which we have a foothold % In the usual methods of 10 ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE teaching Latin this ' known ' is, of course, the mother tongue : we convey the meaning of equus to the learner by saying horse. Now there are objections to this method ; the most important for our purpose being that it causes what I believe psychologists call ' interference ', which simply means that the two lan- guages get in each other's way in the learner's mind. And, naturally, the more ' idiomatic ' the two languages are the greater is the interference. Nobody can con- centrate his mind on a thing, when he has to be referring continually to another thing, absolutely different, in order to understand it. But it may be said, Is it possible to discard the mother tongue in teaching a foreign language ? Without answering so large a question at once, we may reply : Surely it is possible to associate words directly with the objects and acts to which they refer, that is, to convey the meaning of words like c horse ', ' field ', ' house ', ' head ' by pointing to these objects, and the meaning of words like draw ', ' push ', ' open ', * shut ' by performing the acts thus described, and the meaning of grammatical sentences by methods exactly similar. Moreover, a learner need not have got very far into a language before it becomes possible also to explain unknown words to him in the language itself. The ' known ', then, in this method of teaching is either the 'thing' (using the word in the widest sense) to which a word or sentence refers, or that part of the language being learnt which is already known; and the method of teaching a language by directly associating words with things', or by directly explaining it by means of itself, is none other than the well-known Direct ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE 11 Method. In Modern Language teaching this method has already achieved a notable success and ought therefore, it would be supposed, to require no advocacy ; but there can be no doubt that it presents great difficulties to those who have not had the experience of speaking a foreign language fluently. Such teachers find it incredible that a man should be able to speak a language without ever thinking of his own, and they naturally find it incredible also that a boy should grasp the meaning of words and sentences by direct associa- tion with things and acts, and should proceed at once to use such words and sentences himself with intelligence. This digression has had for its object to show that the Direct Method, or the continual use of any lan- guage in order to teach and to learn it, is a possible method ; the details of the method must be reserved for later chapters. Let us return to our point that the Direct Method is also the right method ; we can tell at once how quickly and how well a man is learning a language, if we know the answers to the questions How much does he hear it spoken? and How much does he speak it himself 1 Let us ask ourselves for a moment what happens when one learns a language in the way described. What happens, in simple words, is that a habit grows up. To quote once more from Aristotle, ' by doing just acts we become just, and the like ; and we learn an art by doing that which we wish to do habitually when we have learnt it. We become builders by building, and harpers by harping ' and speakers by speaking. Moreover, along with the habit there grows up an associated feeling ; the human organism 12 ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE is so sensitive and so plastic that with every new activity it develops what we may call a new sense, 1 which behaves like all the other senses in that it guides action and finally makes action pleasurable, right, and spontaneous. The sense developed in the course of learning a language is what the Germans call Sprachgefuhl and what we may perhaps call speech- sense, or language- sense. The wonderful thing is that each language has its own speech-sense, so that, when once the sense has become established, a man can turn to the right and speak German and then to the left and speak English as easily as one can cut a quill and whistle an air at the same time. Well, it is this speech-sense which enables a man to learn a language ; by means of it what is strange becomes first familiar, then easy, then almost instinctive. In other words, habit begins to hold sway. To guard against misunderstanding, this is not to say for a moment that reason does not play its part in the growth of habit. It is sometimes said, that we ought to learn a foreign language as we learn the mother tongue ; this is partly true, and partly not true. It is true, in so far that our aim must be to do with the foreign language any- thing that we do with the mother tongue, that is, to express ourselves in it in all imaginable ways. Where it is not true is in this, that whereas the learning of the mother tongue is entirely natural, the learning of the foreign language is an art. By saying that it is an art, we mean that an end is intended, and that means are deliberately thought out to attain it. It is the teacher's part to think out these means, though 1 See Prof. Clifford Allbutt, Class. Assoc. Proceedings, 1906. ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE 13 even the learner becomes or is made aware of them as he proceeds with his work. When Modern Languages are taught by the Direct Method, what objection can there be to the use of it for teaching Latin? As I have hinted already, I cannot conceive of any valid objection except this, that Latin is a dead language ; as I begin by assuming that Latin is not a dead language there is no need to answer this objection. Latin is not, indeed, a living language in the sense that French or German is, in the sense namely that there are men speaking it to-day as their native speech, who can come and show us how Latin is really spoken with what pronuncia- tion and rhythm and intonation. But what is meant by saying that Latin is a living tongue and that we can use it as such is not at all that we know exactly how Cicero or any one else spoke it, but that we have knowledge enough to be able to speak it in such a way that Cicero, hearing it, would understand and would not be offended. Another objection is that Latin is too hard to be taught by the Direct Method. Latin is undoubtedly hard however it is taught it is bound to be hard, very hard ; but surely no teacher who is worth his salt will say that any method is too hard, if it is the right one. I am old enough to remember exactly the same thing said of German ; it was said that the Direct Method was all very well for a little inflected language like French, but that it would never do for a highly inflected language like German. Now German is a difficult language, probably in its early stages as difficult as Latin ; and yet to my certain knowledge 14 ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE some of the greatest triumphs in the Direct Method have been achieved in the teaching of German. Still, it must be admitted that the Direct Method of teach- ing Latin is hard; it demands forethought, skill, brains, and faith, and any teacher who desires an easy way of teaching Latin had better keep off this. A word may be said here about writing Latin, after so much has been said about speaking it. It is un- doubtedly true that while speech makes a ready man, writing makes an exact man. Let it be said, therefore, that the learner will write continually, but his written work, at least in the early stages, will never go in advance of his spoken work; where he is able to speak exactly, it will be found that he is able to write exactly. But speech will always come first. When Cicero says that writing is the best master of speech, he says nothing to the point, for us ; he is speaking of orators and not of children. Let us pause a moment here, in order to recapitu- late : the end of learning a language is the intelligent, exact, and idiomatic use of it both in speech and writing, and the method of learning it is the same in kind as the end itself, that is, it seeks to establish a habit of intelligent, exact, and idiomatic speech by repeated acts of the like sort. These acts will be directed by the teacher, who will see that at every point the learner is presented with tasks requiring effort, yet within his power. What is to be the subject-matter of the Latin lessons? In order to answer this question, we must go a little beyond the scope of this chapter. Why do we learn any foreign language at all ? I suppose it is ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE 15 in order to enter into another culture than our own, and in the end, if we can, to penetrate to the heart of it. Now this means that we shall seek to make our- selves familiar with all that goes to make up the culture or civilization, whether material or moral, of the people whose language we are studying. In learning Latin our talk will be of the things and ideas and activities which interested the Romans. And here may be mentioned a difficulty which entails a certain limitation in the use of the Direct Method. What may be called the material basis of life is prac- tically the same for all modern civilized nations houses, furniture, food and the way of cooking and eating it, clothes and the stuff of which they are made, means of conveyance, trains, bicycles, games, toys, and hundreds of other things. There are of course charac- teristic small differences as well, which add interest to lessons as they do to travel; but, speaking broadly, what I have said is true, the material basis of life is the same for French as for English. And one of the charms of Direct Method teaching in Modern Lan- guages, where it is well done, is that before the learner has got very far, he is able to talk about all that goes on in his life. But this is impossible in Latin, or rather it requires a teacher to discern where it is possible and where it is not. For instance, a con- versation like the following is as easy in Latin as in English : ' What was yesterday's Homework 1 ' ' We had to prepare the story.' ' Hadn't you something to write ? ' ' No, Sir, we had nothing else to do ' ; whereas a conversation like ' You are late, Marcus.' ' Yes, sir, I punctured my bicycle, &c.' would be rejected as 16 ON LEARNING A LANGUAGE un-Roman. The same principle applies to the Reader ; it should deal with Roman life. Stories like c Robinson Crusoe ', in Latin, are bad, simply because their atmo- sphere is not Roman. They may of course be read * for fun ', but that is another matter. They should not be the staple reading of boys learning Latin. CHAPTER II THE TEACHER AND HIS INSTRUMENTS It is proposed in this chapter to describe briefly the instruments required for teaching Latin and the way in which they are used, and after that to give actual examples of lessons. 1. Things. There should be accessible in the class- room what the Germans call Realien, that is, pictures and models of all sorts, illustrating the dress, armour, houses, ships, tools, city life and country life of the Romans. These are not only necessary instruments of the Direct Method, in order that boys may learn the names of the things represented by the simple process of 'pointing and saying', but they are an essential part of the teacher's equipment for any method of teaching Latin. They show the boy at first hand, and before any wrong impressions get lodged in his mind, what he is talking about. There are teachers, I know, who do not think it matters if words like ' templum ', ' tunica ', and ' stilus ' bring up images of a Renascence (or even a Gothic) church, a schoolboy's shirt, and a fountain-pen ; I can only say that this chapter is not for them. If the pictures can be hung up on the wall, all the better ; they will help to create the proper Roman atmosphere in the class-room. But good wall- pictures are not easy to come by ; Cybulski's Tabulae 18 THE TEACHER AND HIS INSTRUMENTS are useful, and so are the wall-pictures published by Dent, though they are rather small. The little picture in ! Primus Annus ' is being reproduced by the Clarendon Press as a good large wall-picture; it suffers, perhaps, like most similar pictures, from the attempt to crowd too much into it, but this is not the artist's fault. Of small pictures, Professor Granger's series published by Bell may be specially mentioned. 2. The Reader. In all Direct Method work the Reader is the basis of instruction. The chief merits of a good Reader are variety and continuity ; both of these characteristics are necessary if interest is to be awakened and held, but the latter is so important that a word must be said about it. Every chapter or exercise in the Reader ought to be something with body or matter in it, some bit of narrative or descrip- tion in which interest is maintained from first to last. Nothing kills interest like bad subject-matter, and it is absurd to put before a boy who is ripe for Latin the isolated sentences, which are so familiar, about queens and garlands and anchors and Muses ; no boy would look at this sort of stuff if it was put before him as English reading. Somebody has well described it by saying that the only thing to do with it is to translate it. It is not unimportant that the learner should from the beginning look for meaning and significance in the language he is learning, as he would look for them in his own language. ' In the whole is contained the real excellence of a writing; in the paragraph, not in the sentence ; in the chapter, not in the para- graph ; in the book rather than in the chapter.' x 1 Jowett. THE TEACHER AND HIS INSTRUMENTS 19 Songs and little plays are obviously so much in the spirit of the Direct Method that it is not necessary to do more than mention them. 3. The Teacher. As the Reader is the basis of in- struction, so the Teacher is the source. The pupils take the language by ear from his lips ; from him they pick up new words before they see them in print, and learn new constructions before they come upon them in their reading. His function is to guide the work in such a way that the boys' energies are made effective and not fruitless. He looks both before and after ; by his forethought, on the one hand, he prevents inex- perience from falling into traps, and inhibits error before it can become rooted by repetition ; on the other hand, knowing that there are a hundred ways of going wrong and one way of going right, he brings the boy's mind back, again and again, to face the hard places in past work until mastery is achieved. It never escapes him that, if the work is to succeed, every boy's energy must be engaged in it at every step. There is a fairly prevalent opinion that in Direct Method teaching the master does all the work, and the attitude of the boys is entirely receptive they simply listen. Those who hold this opinion must have been singularly unfor- tunate in their experience. There is, of course, bad teaching as well as good in this as in every other method; the two may be roughly distinguished by the fact that with good teaching the boys do their share of the speaking, and with bad teaching the master does too much of the speaking. The thing aimed at should be self-activity on the part of the boy: he cannot learn batting by watching another B2 20 THE TEACHER AND HIS INSTRUMENTS bat, and he cannot learn Latin by hearing his master speak it, at any rate all the time. A few words may be said in a general way about the procedure in class. In each new chapter or exercise of the Reader (' Primus Annus ') a new point of Grammar is introduced; it should be said that the words exemplifying this new point of Grammar come into the story naturally, each in its proper place ; there may be more or fewer of them, but they do not of themselves provide sufficient drill upon the point under consideration. This drill must be devised beforehand by the master in the following way. Let us suppose that the new construction is the Instrumental Ablative. The master will use sentences like the following: dextra tango mensam, creta litteram scribo, ferula tabulam monstro, using words already familiar to the class. When the boys hear the new forms dextra, creta, ferula, their interest will be roused and they will see at once that there is new game afoot. They thus meet the new Case, in the first instance, in the concrete. The second stage is that the new Case is elucidated by reference to Pure Grammar; so that they understand what they are about when they use it. In the third stage, which is of chief importance, what has been learnt is driven home by incessant question and answer in Latin, which is continued until the new construction is accurately applied in practice; this oral drill elimi- nates mistakes before they can get rooted in the mind, and, of course, long before they can become fixed by writing. Even now, the boys do not proceed at once to the Reader ; the new story is first prepared with THE TEACHER AND HIS INSTRUMENTS 21 books closed, the master going over most of the matter by question and answer, reviving their memories of words which they have already had, and explaining new words which they are about to have. Books are now opened, and the lesson gone over sentence by sentence. Finally, the story is read straight through in Latin by the boys ; it is important that this should not be attempted until the text is so thoroughly understood that the reading of it can be. done with expression, confidence, and enjoyment. 4. The Class. A chief element of success in all teach- ing is a good spirit in the class, and this is more than ever necessary in lessons where a continuous demand is made on every individual in it. Where the class-spirit is good there is keenness and enthusiasm, and a fine sense of co-operation, every one responding to the lead given by the teacher. A slip in grammar or in pro- nunciation on the part of a boy is at once seized upon and corrected by other members of the class; if the master uses a word or construction which is not under- stood, he is pulled up and asked to explain ; if for any reason he is not present at the opening of class, the work is started in the usual way by one of the leading boys : without such collaboration between master and class there can be no teaching worthy of the name, but only a drill-sergeant business. One has heard of classes, and -of schools, where it was counted bad form to speak a foreign language too correctly, and a sort of treason to attempt it ; there used to be a funny story of a University don who effectually damned the Reformed pronunciation of Latin by asking how it was proposed to pronounce Vice-cancellarium. This 22 THE TEACHER AND HIS INSTRUMENTS mocking spirit, where it exists, is the very mischief, and no steps can be too drastic to root it out ; if it is found in the class, it probably exists in the school, and then it is a business not for the Form-master but for 1 the magistrate, who ought not to bear the sword in vain '. CHAPTER III THE APPROACH TO LATIN Before giving actual examples of lessons, it may be well to say something about the text-book (' Primus Annus ') and about the boys who are supposed to be beginning Latin with it. To take the latter point first : our boys begin Latin at about twelve years of age. Those of them who have been through our own Preparatory School have had at least one year's French on the Direct Method, besides a rigorous course of Pure Grammar, and a training in Phonetics; they are therefore pretty well prepared for taking up a second language on the Direct Method. Where pupils have not had this preparation, it would certainly be well to begin the year's work with a short course of Pure Grammar, and with some directions on what the Direct Method means, and what it demands of the pupils. Time thus spent will not be wasted. With regard to the Book. This is divided into fifty-six Lectiones, but after what has been said in the last chapter it will be understood that each Lectio is not intended to be finished off in one lesson; it represents simply the final lesson of a series which may be longer or shorter according to circumstances. In a school where the number of Latin lessons each 24 THE APPROACH TO LATIN week is six, the average number of lessons to a Lectio works out at about four ; in girls' schools, where the Latin lessons are often only four a week, the average number to a Lectio would be somewhatless than three. The Lectiones mark well-defined successive stages both in Grammar and subject-matter. Opinions will naturally differ about the Grammar which ought to be included in a first year's course, and also about the order in which it ought to be presented. For instance, some teachers might prefer to teach all the cases together ; if this were done, completeness would be attained from the first, but the impression might be blurred. Each teacher must make his own choice in such matters ; what is necessary is that one construc- tion or group of constructions shall be thoroughly grasped before the next is brought forward. The Pensa are not intended as a means of teaching, but simply as a test of past work. It is well to have no written work whatsoever at first, that is, until the boy has learned to pronounce his words quite correctly; premature writing will only lead to spelling mistakes the correction of which will render the work tedious. In a while the boy will be able to take down accu- rately whatever the master says, provided of course that the master himself pronounces accurately. The oral work will always be well ahead of the written, and it may quite well happen that a Pensum is not done until some time after the class has passed on from the Lectio to which it belongs. The Grammar and Vocabularies at the end of the book are intended for recapitulation, or occasional reference, and for nothing else. At the first doing, THE APPROACH TO LATIN 25 each boy should make his own Grammar, and take such notes of vocabulary as the master thinks necessary, in a note-book provided for the purpose. The taking down of such notes from dictation, as soon as the boy has arrived at accuracy, is an excellent exercise. The arrangement of the note-book should be such as to present an intelligent record of the work done and to lend itself easily to revision month by month or term by term ; a scheme which has been found useful is set out on p. 57. It may be helpful to say a word or two on the use of English in the lessons. There are two needs which all teachers will recognize, first, the need of using Latin as much as possible where the aim is the teaching of Latin, and secondly, the paramount need of being understood. Each teacher will strike the balance between them according to his abilities. It has already been shown how concrete ideas may be conveyed directly, by pointing, acting, and the like; there are certain abstract ideas which do not lend themselves so readily to this way of explanation, but the teacher will find, as a rule, that these ideas are not reached until fairly well on in the course, and that when they are reached the learner is already in possession of sufficient Latin to understand a Latin explanation. Thus, for example, fortitudo is not likely to occur until fortis is understood, and it can then be ex- plained by sentences like fortitudinem habet is qui fortis est, fortitudo est virtus eius qui fortis est. Again, there are words indicating rela- tion, like conjunctions, which at times require a little ingenuity ; many of these, it will be found, work their 26 THE APPROACH TO LATIN way into the stock of knowledge quite naturally, and almost unawares, before they occur in the book ; the word sed, for instance, will creep in, and cause no trouble, in sentences like the following : ianua non rotunda est sed quadrata, tabula non alba est sed nigra. Still, if there is any doubt, the teacher will give the English of a doubtful word when it is first used ; such a course will rarely be necessary a second time for the same word. In fine, the teacher will use his discretion and common sense : the method he is using is not an end in itself, but simply a means for teaching boys Latin. There are teachers who can go on for days without resorting to a word of English. CHAPTEK IV FIRST YEAR WORK Scope. Before beginning the book, it will be well (1) to awaken the boys' interest by saying something about the Romans and their history, (2) to have a considerable amount of drill in pronunciation (the words required in the early lessons may very con- veniently be taken as examples), and (3) to prepare the mind of the learner for the highly inflected character of the language. With his past experience of lan- guage, whether English or French, the boy is satisfied that he can quite well express himself without taking much notice of inflexions. In English especially, mere analogy or imitation will carry him pretty far ; in Latin it will carry him a very little way, and he finds himself driven, before he utters a word, to think out the relation of the word to other words in the sentence and to give it its appropriate termination, that is, to apply both his syntax and his accidence. It is this characteristic of Latin which makes a know- ledge of pure Grammar so important, and which demands a longer practice in making a construction perfectly known and readily applied. The general scope of these early lessons may in fact be described as ' the importance of inflexion '. 28 FIRST YEAR WORK Examples of Lessons. Lectio II a. The master says ' Surgo ', pointing to himself. He then signals to a boy to rise, and says 'Surge. Quid facis? Die surgo'. The boy says ' Surgo : the master ' Ita : surgis '. The same procedure is gone through with other boys, the drill being varied, e. g. ' Surgo ; quid f acio ? (Surgis). Ita: surgo.' 'Surge; quidfacis? (Surgo). Ita : surgis.' (To another boy) ' Surgit ; quid facit ? (Surgit).' The plural surgimus, surgitis, surgunt is gone through in the same way, and then drill is given in all the persons, singular and plural, of the present of surgo. Next, consid5 and scribo are treated in a similar manner. The present of surgo is then written on the board and copied by the boys in their note-books. Lectio II b. Sto, recito, sedeo, respondeo, venio are now dealt with in the same way as surgo. The difference between sto and surgo, and between sedeo and cons id 6 may need explanation in English. The present in all persons of recito, respondeo, scribo, venio, and f acio are now written in the note- books in five columns, with the bases ( = imperatives) recita, responde, scribe, &c, at the head of the columns. Lectio III. The Pronouns are introduced, along with nemo and omnes. ' Surgo. Quis surgit ? Ego surgo ; tu non surgis.' ' Quis surgit, Marce V * Tu surgis, magister.' FIRST YEAR WORK 29 The drill must include sentences where the pronoun has to be expressed and others where it has not ; e. g. M. EgostS: quisstat? P. Tu stas. M . Quid facio, Gal ? P. Stas. M . Quis sedet ? P. Ego sedeo. M. Quis etiam sedet ? P. Ille sedet. M. Quidfacit? P. Sedet. M. Quid ille facit ? P. Ille etiam sedet. M . Quid facitis omnss ? P. Sedemus omnes. So with the contrasted pairs : Ego recito, tu audls. Ego scrlbo, tu spectas. Ego interrogo, ille respondet. Omnes sedent, nemo stat. The pronouns should be entered in the note-books in a sixth column opposite the persons of the verbs. The expression ' Stare contrarium est quam sedere ' will now be introduced. Lectio IV. The question in its many variations (-ne, num, nonne, &c.) is now taken, with the appro- priate answers: ita, ita est, minime, sane, &c. Here will be introduced the necessary question f intellegis-ne ? ' If the answer is ' intellego ', it must be followed up : e.g. M . Tu sedes ; intellegis-ne ? P. Intellego. M. Quis igitur sedet ? P. Ego sedeo. M. Quidfacis? P. Sedeo. If the answer is * non intellego ', the difficulty must be cleared up: e.g. M. Ego sto : vos sedstis. P. Non intellego. M. Quid non intellegis? P. Non intellego sedetis. 30 FIRST YEAH WORK M. Specta ; nunc sto, nunc sedeo. P. Ita ; intellego. M . Quid vos facitis ? P. Nos sedemus. M. Ita ; v5s sedetis. Quis non sedet ? P. Magister nOn sedet. The particle an will occur repeatedly : e.g. M. Sedeone an sto ? Sedetisne annon ? The particles num and nonne will occur chiefly in correcting an answer : e.g. M. Quid facit magister ? P. Sedet magister. M. Num sedet ? P. Minime ; non sedet sed stat. M. Nonne stat,Marce? P. Ita; stat non sedet magister. Lectiones V, VI. These present no difficulties; the adjectives will be taught as much as possible by contrast, thus : M. Ianua clausa est ; fenestra est aperta. Qualis est ianua ? P. Clausa est ianua. M. Et fenestra, qualis est "? P. Aperta est fenestra. M. Estne quadrata fenestra an rotunda ? P. Quadrata est, non rotunda. It need scarcely be said that in all the answers, the order of words is of the first importance, the word which is the real predicate standing first. Lectiones VII, VIII. The Accusative case is the first real syntactical difficulty ; when the boy has mastered it he begins to know the genius of the Latin language. In the next few lessons the attention should be almost entirely concentrated upon it ; time spent upon it will be amply repaid. Questions must be asked which require a continual change from the Nominative to the Accusative, and vice versa : e. g. M. Quid est hoc ? P. Mensa est. FIRST YEAR WORK 31 M. Quid tango ? P. Mensam tangis. M. Quid nunc facio, G ai ? P. Tabulam nunc tangis. M, Quid est hoc ? Nonne ianua est ? P. Ita : ianua est. M. Qualis est ianua ? Clausa est ianua. M. Quid facio ? P. Aperis ianuam. The next stage will introduce the same type of sentence with a qualifying adjective in the accusative. Good practice is provided by analysis of sentences under the heads Subiectum, Verbum, Obiectum. Lectio IX. A ' Carta antiqua ' or a blank map is required. The Lectio serves as a revision of the Accusative case with a fresh vocabulary. Before books are opened, the new words should be intro- duced, first in the Nominative, then in the Accusative, then, with adjectives prefixed, in both cases. The lesson should then present no difficulty. It may be necessary to explain in English the exact meaning of provincia and patria. Lectio X. This introduces the plural number and the numerals, which will be taught in the first instance by the usual class-room question and answer. Lectio XI. The preparatory questions should vary between Quot? and Quota?, so as to provide a drill on both Cardinals and Ordinals. Practice in the latter should be kept up by questions like ' Quota nunc hora est 1 ' l Quota est haec lectio 1 ' ' Quota est pagina ubi lectio est ? ' * Quota in pagina lectio est hodierna ? ' The difference between the Roman reckon- ing of time and our own will need a few words of explanation ; it may be shown by some such diagram as the following : OPTIMA HORA Historic <>* FIRST YEAR WORK 33 Lectiones XII and XIII. The prepositions will first of all be taught by the usual class-room question and answer ; thus (XII), M. Quintus est intra cameram, nemo est extra cameram. Ubi est Quintus ? P. Intra cameram est Quintus. M. Quis est extra cameram ? P. Nemo est extra cameram. M. Ubi est magister, intra an extra cameram? P. Intra cameram est magister. M. Nunc cartam ante tabulam pono ; tabula est post cartam, &c. M. Quis ante tabulam stat ? P. Magister ante tabulam stat. M. Nunc ante sellam sed post mensam sto; inter sellam et mensam sto, &c. Lectio XIV. The procedure is the same as with the First Declension. The rule 'Adiectivum cum Nomine concordat genere, numero, casu ' will now be given. We may now set out one or two lessons in greater detail; before doing so, let us sum up the general principles which apply to all lessons alike. (1) The lesson opens with a smart revision of past work. (2) New constructions are introduced, with the already known vocabulary. (3) The vocabulary of the new lesson is introduced, and the main facts brought out by question and answer. The aim of (2) and (3) is to pave the way for the Lectio, so that it may be read fluently and with intelligence. (4) The lesson is read aloud. 34 FIRST YEA*R WORK (5) New words, notes on grammar, &c, are entered in the note-books. (6) The lesson is prepared as Homework. Lectio XXIII. (1) The new construction in this Lectio is the Dative Case, which must be practised before the Lectio is taken. The class is already- familiar with sentences like 'Da mihi librum', and these will form the basis for teaching the use of the new case. M. Da mihi librum. (Librum dat.) Quid facis? P. Do tibi librum. M. Quid mihi dat, Marce? P. Librum tibi dat. M. Cui librum dat ? P. Non intellego cui. M. Responds 'tibi'; 'tibi' respondet ad interrogatum 'cui'. P. Tibi librum dat. M . Cui librum dat, Gal ? P. Tibi librum dat, o magister. M. Vel magistro librum dat. Nunc cretam tibi do : cui cretam do ? P. Mihi cretam das. And so on ; then M. Galloni, da pensum tuum Marco. Cui pensum das? P. Marco pensum meum do. And so with other boys : then the plural is taken M. Scidas vobls do : quibus scidas do ? P. Nobis scidas das. M. Quibus magister scidas dat ? P. Pueris magister dat scidas. M. Vos date mihi scidas. Cui scidas datis ? P. Tibi scidas damus. FIRST YEAR WORK 35 M. Responds per nomen. P. Magistro" scidas dam us. M. Ago vobls gratias. And so on. El, els, huic, his are similarly treated. Finally, the class will be told J mihi, tibi, nobis, vobls, puero, pueris, &c, Dativi sunt casus', though this may not be at once entered in their note-books. The connexion between Dati vus and dare may well be explained. A caution may be uttered against setting any written pensum on the Dative Case at this stage ; the lesson is not yet completed. (2) In the next lesson, after a smart revision of (1), the Lectio will in the first instance be given orally by the master : thus M. Puerl magistro pensa sua dant. Quid faciunt puerl ? P. Pensa sua magistro dant M. Cui pensa sua dant puerl ? P. Magistro pensa dant puerl. M. Quorum pensa magistro dant ? P. Sua pensa puerl magistro dant. M. Magister pensa corrigit et pueris reddit. Cui pensa reddit ? P. Non intellego reddit. M . Hoc est ; iterum dat. P. Intellego : pueris pensa reddit. M. Qualia pensa reddit els ? P. Correcta pensa els reddit magister. M, Aliis pueris multas notas dat, alils nullas dat. Exempli gratia, Bruto nullas dat ; cur Bruto nullas dat ? P. Quia pensum eius male est factum. c2 36 FIRST YEAR WORK M. Vel, quia multa vitia habet. Intellegisne vitia ? P. Ita ; quia Brutl pSnsum multa habet vitia. M. Quot notas dat, si vitia sunt pauca ? P. Octo vel novem notas dat, si vitia pauca sunt. M. Quando decern tibi notas do, Marce ? P. Decern mihi notas das, si nulla vitia habeo. And so on. The Lectio may now be read aloud ; at the end the new words, and the new Dative Case, will be entered in their proper places in the note-books. The Home- work will be to learn them and to prepare the Lectio ; this consists of conning it over so as to be able to answer questions upon it. Lectio XXV IT. The lesson contains few new words and no new syntactical difficulties ; it can therefore be dealt with immediately, without our having to pave the way for it by Stage (1) of the previous example. We proceed at once, therefore, to Stage (2), books being closed. (2) M. Olim Romanus et Hispanus Massiliam ibant. Quis Massiliam ibat ? P. Romanus et Hispanus Massiliam ibat. Jf. Ibat? P. Ibant. M. Quo ibant Romanus et Hispanus ? P. Massiliam ibant. M. Quando? (No answer.) Responds 'olim'. P. Non intellego olim. M. Idem fere significat quod antehac. (No answer.) 1 Once upon a time.' Olim igitur Massiliam ibant. Quocum Romanus Massiliam ibat ? FIRST YEAR WORK 37 P. Cum Hispano Massiliam ibat. M. 'Subito ex silva duo Galli exsiliunt,' Quis ex silva exsilit ? P. Galli ex silva exsiliunt. M. Quot Galli ex silva exsiliunt ? P. Duo Galli ex silva exsiliunt. M. Unde exsiliunt ? P. Ex silva exsiliunt. M. ' Galli eos longls hastis oppugnant.' Quid faciunt Galli? P. Hastis eos oppugnant. M. Qualibus hastis eos oppugnant ? P. Longls hastis eos oppugnant. M. ' Romanus et Hispanus gladios stringunt et de- fendere se incipiunt.' Quid faciunt? P. Gladios stringunt et defendunt se. And so on. The only difficulty will be with the new words which will be explained as follows : Mortuus. Si virum occldo, mortuus est vir. Con- trarium quam mortuus est vlvus. MortuT-ne nos sumus an vivi? Qualis tu es, Marce, vlvus an mortuus? Sine socio. Socius tuus est is qui tecum contra alios pugnat. Sine contrarium est quam cum. Cum socio-ne an sine socio, Tite, ad ludum venls ? Cadit. By action ; ' creta cadit.' Sine mora. Statim. Super. By action; e.g. 'Cretam super mensam iacio '. Solus. Sine socio. Ambo. Duo, si duo omnes sunt. Huml. By action. 38 FIRST YEAR WORK (It should be observed that the Relative Pronoun except in the expression ' is qui ' is not yet known.) If there is not time to finish the preparation, the Pensum will of course be on a previous lesson. Other- wise the Lectio is read aloud in class, and prepared at home, as in the last example. At the next lesson the story will be reconstructed by question and answer : e. g. M. Quis Massiliam ibat ? P. Romanus et Hispanus Massiliam ibant. M. Perge ! Quid accidit ? P. Duo Galli ex silva veniunt. M. Exsiliunt. Et? P. Et eos oppugnant. M. Tu, quid faciunt illl ? P. Defendunt se. M. Quiddeinde? (Pause.) Nonne pr ope fluvium pugn a erat ? P. Ita ; Gallus Hispanum in fluvium . . . (pause). M . Tu, Marce. P. Trudit. And so on. Finally, books may be opened and the Lectio once more read aloud. Grammar questions will follow; e.g. 'Cuius casus est Hispano? hastis? se?' 'Cuius temporis est ibat ? incipiunt ? inveniet ? ' ' Quae pars verbl est defendere ? ' ' Quae pars orationis est Imum ? ' If there is time one boy may be asked to tell the story to the class, in the first person, as the Roman ; and some such exercise, written, would form a suitable Pensum. FIRST YEAR WORK 39 Lectio XLV. The Passive Voice is here introduced. Without some acquaintance with it, to start the Lectio would mean repeated halts and a loss of continuity. The preparation lesson will therefore be devoted to the introduction of the Passive on the known vocabulary. Thus: 1st Lesson. M. Librum aperio. Quis librum aperit ? P. Tu librum aperls. M. Quid facio ? P. Librum aperls. M. Ita ; librum aperio ; apentur igitur liber. Nunc ianuam aperio. Quid aperltur? P. Ianua aperitur. M. Ianuam claudo. Quid clauditur ? P. Ianua clau- ditur. Jf. Cretam sumo. Quid sumitur ? P. Creta sumitur. and so on with many examples in Sing, and Plur., the question ' Quid fit ? ' also being used. The Agent will then be introduced. M. Tu, Quinte, exterge tabulam. Quid fit ? P. Tabula extergetur. M. A quo tabula extergetur ? Responds 'A Qulnto ... P. A Qulnto tabula extergetur. M . Magister pueros docet. Quid fit ? P. Pueri docentur. M. A quo puerl docentur? P. A magistro pueri docentur. M. Agricolae agros colunt. Quid fit ? P. Agrl coluntur. M. A quibus ? P. Ab agricolls agrl coluntur. And so on. 40 FIRST YEAR WORK The 3rd Sing, and Plur. is enough as a preparation for the Lectio, and probably enough for the first lesson. The lesson ends with the explanation, 'Verbum aperit est Activae Vocis, aperitur est Passivae Vocis.' If the class is properly grounded in Pure Grammar this fact will be understood at once. The night work may consist either of some exercise on the previous Lectio or of some simple sentences to be turned into the Passive (3rd Pers. only). 2nd Lesson. First the Homework will be corrected and followed by a little more practice on the Passive. The Lectio will then be taken, with books closed. In the absence of pictures of the Roman Camp, the descrip- tion of it should be accompanied with blackboard draw- ings. At this stage it is not necessary to ask every possible question on every sentence to ensure under- standing. M. ' Die quodam Marcus e cublll surrexit.' P. Quid slgnificat ' cublll ' ? M. ' Lectus ' ' locus ubi noctu iaces et dormis.' 1 Castra Marcus conspexit ' (hoc est, subito vidit). 'Castra ultra fluvium in clivo posit a erant.' Ubi castra posita erant ? P. Ultra fluvium in clivo castra posita erant. P. ii. Non intellego ' posita '. (Reference to ' aperta ' &c, and an example ' Creta in mensa posita est \) M. Marcus modo surrexerat cum . . . The meaning of modo may be explained by non diu, and if the tense of the verb is regarded, the sentence will be understood at once; if there is any doubt, a translation should be called for. FIRST YEAR WORK 41 The new words in the Lectio may be explained as follows : Tribunus est dux legionis is qui legionem ducit. lectis. Tribunus mllitss quosdam legit, mllites igitur sunt lectl. Tribunus non cum omnibus sed cum lectis militibus, h. e., cum els, quos legit, praemittitur. vexillum spatium si gnat. Explained by pic- tures or action. mtinlre, moenia facere ; defendendl causa parare. struo, aedifico. cumulo. Explained by reference to cumulus (cumulus librorum, terrae, &c). There will hardly be time to read the Lectio in the book : this will be done in the third lesson, and thoroughly prepared as Homework afterwards. The Homework on the second day may be one of the Pensa. 3rd Lesson. Homework will be corrected ; then books will be opened and the Lectio read ; and finally new words will be written with explanations in the note-books (nouns with gen. and gender, verbs with principal parts). Homework will be to learn this vocabulary and so prepare the Lectio that any questions upon it can be answered. (Other examples of First Year Work are given in Appendix II). CHAPTER V A COMPARISON OF METHODS The characteristic features of the Direct Method may be best shown by a series of contrasts bringing out the difference between it and the old. (1) The language is felt, from the beginning, as something spoken. From this many consequences follow, and the most important of them is that the sentence comes to be looked upon as the unit of speech. I do not know whether many masters have watched their boys at a Latin exercise, and seen how, as often as not, the thing is done, but the procedure is instructive. A boy is translating a sentence into Latin ; he begins perhaps by writing down the first word or two, which he happens to know; he then comes to a word which he does not know or is not sure of ; he refers to the vocabulary and emerges after a while with his spoil; he sets about writing it down, but in the act remembers that he does not know the gender or the perfect tense of his word ; he refers again (if he is a ' good ' boy), and finally sets it down ; this going to and fro may happen several times in the course of one sentence, but at last he gets the thing finished. Now, whatever name may be given to the exercise which he is performing, surely no one will maintain that it is an exercise in language. The sentence has never taken shape, as a whole, in his A COMPARISON OF METHODS 43 mind at all ; indeed, he has frequently forgotten the beginning of it before he gets to the end, for nobody, certainly not a boy, retains his interest in a sentence, generally not very interesting in itself, which he is constructing piecemeal, at intervals, in the course of a laborious three, four, or five minutes' search. It may be said that any master who knows his business will tell his boys not to write one word of a sentence until they have got the whole of it clearly in their minds. But it is useless to tell them so, and the master has no right to tell them so, unless they have been trained by him to behave so ; a boy will do as he has been taught to do, and he certainly will not treat the sentence as the unit of speech, when he comes to write an exercise, unless all his work in the class-room has tended to make any other view impos- sible to him. If the master does train his boys to think in sentences, and to speak in sentences, he is already half-way towards a sensible method of teaching Latin, and I hope he will go the whole way. For it is not only young boys doing sentences who are thus lacking in a sense of what language really is. The Latin Prose of older boys suffers from just the same vice ; there is no flow of words, no spontaneity, but a laborious piecing together of phrases, Ciceronian and other, into a strange sort of mosaic. The result often bears the same relation to real Latin as Baboo English does to real English ; and, it may be observed, the malady in both cases springs from the same cause. , When this sort of exercise is begun prematurely, as it frequently is, I can conceive of no surer method for destroying the language-sense. 44 A COMPARISON OF METHODS (2) The second important consequence is that there is never any doubt, on the part of either master or boy, that Latin is something real and that it exists for use. It follows at once that a balance is main- tained between the several elements of language, viz., grammar, vocabulary, and idiom ; knowledge and power go hand in hand, neither outstripping the other. Especially should it be noted that a large working vocabulary is absolutely necessary. As Latin is usually taught, it will scarcely be disputed that Grammar runs absurdly ahead; the amount of use- less Latin Grammar that some boys with retentive memories know is astonishing. I examined, a while ago, two boys who seemed to know the Public School Primer off by heart, they certainly were word-perfect in the gender rules, and I took the fancy to question them on the meaning of about forty nouns, not by any means the most uncommon, which occur in these rhymes. It appeared that they knew between them the meaning of only eleven nouns out of the forty, and it was amusing to find that one boy thought that ' vas vasis ' (he knew the gender right enough) meant * surety ' and that neither boy knew what a ' surety ' was. It seems to me that there are two things to be said about this and similar cases. The first is that no teacher need take credit to himself for pupils who know the Grammar by heart, whether they can apply it or not ; for nothing is easier than to ' set ' a page of Grammar, it requires no teaching capacity whatsoever but only an infinite goodwill on the part of the boys. If the teacher would ask the best of these boys what they think of it, he might get to know something A COMPARISON OF METHODS 45 which he did not know before. The second point is this ; knowledge of the sort described is frequently- spoken of as a 'good foundation', and those who possess it are said to have a ' sound knowledge ' of the elements of the language. It seems to me that what they possess is not knowledge at all but rather a delu- sive and very dangerous form of nescience. So long as this sort of thing can pass for knowledge of Latin, neither boys nor masters will be likely to have any notion of what 'knowing' a language means, or to make any effort to raise the low standards prevailing among us ; we shall still have boys, in platoons and battalions, who have been learning Latin for six years and yet cannot deal with a straightforward bit of Latin at sight. In learning Latin, Grammar is, of course, needed at every step ; whatever is needed should be learned rigorously, though only in order that it may be applied ; whatever is not needed should be left severely alone. Knowledge of forms divorced from power to use them is the worst equipment con- ceivable for the learner of a language. It leads to the Cryptogram view of language, which is, that lan- guage is a great puzzle or riddle to be solved by means of abstract rules the use of which has been mastered beforehand. According to this view, a boy may not know any vocabulary to speak of, he may not be able to construct a single sentence with natural ease, he may not feel or be able to interpret to others the rhythm and force of language, yet if he can, with the help of a dictionary, eke out the sense of a Latin paragraph, as one untangles a complicated arithmetical puzzle, he may be certified as 'knowing Latin'. It 46 A COMPARISON OF METHODS can surely never dawn upon such a one that language is a sort of Music, and that Latin was once a real lan- guage used for every conceivable purpose for which the noblest modern languages are used, poetry and prose, lyric and epic, oratory and history, the conversation of friends and prayer to the gods. What a man knows of a language is what he has ready for instant use in his mind. Even if he has learnt Latin for a year only, yet if he has learnt it properly, he knows it up to that point, he has a sense of the reality of it and a pleasure in it. Knowledge and power should go hand in hand, in language, as in all the arts. It is wearisome work laying foundations for a super- structure which is never raised ; even where some sort of superstructure is raised in the end, it is still wearisome work laying the foundations. The better image is that of an organic growth, where the central cell or body has still a life of its own, whether or not it grows eventually into something richer and more complete. (3) Another point of difference is in the use made of translation. It may be said, without much fear of dispute, that, with the usual method of teaching, trans- lation occupies most of the time in class ; indeed, unless my experience is exceptional, it frequently occupies, along with Grammar, the whole time, no pretence being made to read the Latin text before or after the translation. Even where the text is read, one has only to listen to the halting, scambling stuff produced by many boys when set to read a piece of Latin, in order to understand how little meaning or importance they attach to this exercise. Under the Direct Method A COMPARISON OF METHODS 47 most of the time in class is spent over the text, that is, over the Latin, the object being to appropriate as much of it as possible ; the reading of the text, instead of being the least important, is the most important exercise of all. Translation is resorted to only when it is discovered to be necessary, that is, when there is something which cannot be understood without it. Why should one translate what everybody understands perfectly well ? There are some teachers who hold the deliberate opinion that translation is a means of training boys, not in Latin, but in English ; I may find an opportunity of discussing this view later, and in the meantime will only say that I have never heard of anything so paradoxical as that an English boy can learn his own language by translating into it out of a foreign idiom which he does not understand, or, at the best, which he is struggling to master. Some may think that in what I have said in this chapter I have given too short shrift to old and tried methods, and that I have taken extreme instances in order to prove a case. Possibly I have ; let me say, therefore, that I have no wish to deny that under the old method (it is not really old at all, but quite modern) in actual practice good work i3 frequently done which is very much in the spirit of the new. But I must still maintain that the spirit of the old method is, radically, such as I have described it, that it is hopelessly wrong, and that its results, as seen in the less gifted half of those who have been its victims, are such as to make angels weep. CHAPTEE VI SECOND YEAR WORK Scope. The aim of the first two years' work is to master all the ordinary constructions of Latin, in- cluding the grammar of all subordinate sentences of the first degree. The material thus described may be called the Basis. That part of the Basis done in the first year embraces the Syntax and Accidence of the Principal Sentence and of those subordinate sentences in which the Indicative Mood is used. The object of the second year's work is, therefore, to continue and complete the Basis, that is, principally, to learn the Syntax and Accidence of the Subjunctive and Infini- tive Moods, and in particular the constructions called Oratio Obliqua, Interrogatio Obliqua, and Petitio Obliqua. The text-book will be, as before, a Reader dealing with Roman life. Examples of Lessons. The new construction selected is the Interrogatio Obliqua. In this construction the class makes its first real acquaintance with the Subjunctive Mood. When the lessons on the Indirect Statement are approaching a conclusion, and the point is nearly reached where the Indirect Question is to be intro- SECOND YEAR WORK 49 duced, the master uses several examples of the latter construction, casually, in the class-room work; his object is to arrest the attention of the pupils by what they believe to be a false inflexion of the verb. When the necessary criticism is forthcoming, the class is informed that there is another mood, the Modus Sub- iunctivus, and a new construction, the Interrogatio Obliqua, with which they are now to become familiar. The way is thus paved for the first lesson. Lesson 1. This will open with sentences in the Present Tense, first in one conjugation, then in the others ; first in the Active Voice, then in the Passive. It is convenient to begin with the verb Sum; thus, M. Omnes-ne puerl adsunt ? Magister rogat omnes-ne puerl adsint. Quid magister rogat ? P. Rogat omnes-ne puerl adsint. M. Vel potius : rogat num omnes puerl adsint. Quid rogat ? P. Rogat num omnss puerl adsint. M. Quis abest? Interrogo quis absit. Quid inter- rogo? P. Interrogas quis absit. M. Ubi est Marcus ? Quid interrogo ? P. Interrogas ubi sit Marcus. M. Nonne etiam Servius abest ? Quid interrogo ? P. Interrogas nonne etiam Servius absit. M. Quid hodiernum est pensum ? Quid rogat ma- gister ? P. Rogat magister quid hodiernum sit pensum. M. Sim, sis, sit, slmus, sltis, sint. Quales puerl estis ? Quid nunc interrogo ? P. Interrogas quales puerl slmus. And so on. 18764 D 50 SECOND YEAR WORK It will be pointed out that, except for the verb, the Indirect Question has usually just the same form as the Direct. The other conjugations are taken in the same way, both in the Active and in the Passive Voice, and finally the Present Subjunctive Active and Passive of all the conjugations is written on the board and copied in the note-books. The first Homework is to learn these forms by heart. Lesson 2. This will open with a smart revision of the previous day's work. The next step will be to introduce the Imperfect Subjunctive by means of a short story, recited orally or written on the board. Varied practice will be given on this, e.g.: M. Quid rogavit Remus ? P. Rogavit cur tantulum ille murum aedificaret. M. Die mihi ipsa verba Remi. P. ' Car tantulum murum aedificas ? ' M. Quid igitur rogavit ? &c. When the story is finished and known, let the class find out how the Imperfect Subjunctive is formed; once they have discovered it, they will never forget it. Additional material will be provided in plenty by the first year's work, especially by the Fabulae. Let the class be called out to their places for acting, e. g. ' Pyramus et Thisbe ' ; begin with the completion of the building, and run through the first scene from that point to the end, as it stands in the Fabula. When the class have returned to their desks, the following drill can be given : SECOND YEAR WORK 51 M. Postquam domus aedificata est, quid Sol Domum Pyraml rogavit ? P. Rogavit quis illlc habitaret. M. Quid respondit Domus ? P. Respondit Pyramum illlc habitare. M. Quid Thisbae Domum rogavit Sol ? P. Rogavit quis illlc etiam habitaret. M. Et quid respondit Domus ? P. Respondit illlc habitare Thisbam. M. Postquam pater ad domum appropinquavit, quid rogavit ? P. Rogavit ubi esset ianua. M . Et quid Pyramus patrem rogavit ? P. Rogavit quid faceret. And so on. The new tenses, Active and Passive, may now be entered in the note-books, along with the sentence : Imperfectum Tempus Subiunctlvi Modi ab Infinitivo Praesenti ducitur '. The Homework will be to learn the new tenses by heart, and to con over the story. Lesson 3. This will be devoted to the Perfect, Pluperfect, and Future Subjunctive. After the usual introduction by means of class-room question and answer (e. g. Quando Marcus redibit } Rogat magister quando Marcus rediturus sit. Rogavit magister quando Marcus rediturus esset), further examples will be sought in plays and stories of the first year. Thus parts of the ' Medicus ' lend themselves to the purpose : M. Quid Octavia rogavit dum Titus in lectulo iacet ? P. Rogavit quando medicus venturus esset. D2 52 SECOND YEAR WORK M. Quid medicus Titum rogavit ? P. Rogavit eum quid prtdis edisset. And so on. The Accidence of the whole Subjunctive Mood 'may now be set for Homework, and the following note will be taken down by the pupils : ' Interrogatio Obliqua eandem formam habet quam Interrogatio Recta, nisi quod verbum in proprium Tempus Subiunctivl Modi mutandum est.' Lesson 4. This may be a story told by the master in which the main point is an interchange of question and answer. When this has been done, the regular course of lessons in the Reading Book may be pro- ceeded with. It need hardly be said that the new construction will be kept fresh by question and answer in the class-room at every opportunity. CHAPTER VII THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR There appears to be an impression abroad that those who teach languages by the Direct Method dis- pense with Grammar; let me begin, therefore, by placing it on record that, so far as my experience goes, this impression is false I should have thought it was too ridiculous to require notice, except for the fact that it exists. Teaching Grammar, however, may mean a good many things ; it may mean the practice, already men- tioned, of teaching the gender of unknown nouns and even of nouns never likely to be known, or of teaching the principal parts, some of them perhaps non-existent, of unknown verbs; and, generally, the teaching of any grammatical forms in advance of the power to use them. This sort of Grammar teaching may well be dispensed with anywhere. Another thing which it often means is the practice of treating the Latin reading lesson as chiefly a grammar lesson. Some teachers are never happy unless they are feeling the grammatical pulse of their classes. The words of the text (to change the metaphor) are so many corpora vilia for grammatical operations the gender of this, the supine of that, the rule for the other thing. This anatomizing habit is the mortal 54 THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR enemy of interest ; one of the keenest memories which I have of my school days is the exasperation which it used to produce in me, in what were supposed to be lessons on Virgil. For the most part, it is entirely unnecessary; in a sense, of course, every lesson is a grammar lesson, but formal grammar should not be obtruded unless things are going wrong unless, that is to say, there is obvious misunderstanding of the Latin text. Where the boy's answers are correct and show that he understands his text, it may be safely assumed that he knows his grammar. In teaching any language there must be grammar lessons : so far as possible, they should be separate lessons or parts of lessons, having a definite purpose. In the ' Primus Annus ' the Grammar is determined by the Reading Lesson, and it is learnt in order to be immediately applied. When a boy can apply it, he is said to know his grammar, though he may not be able to enunciate a single rule about grammar. How does a boy learn his grammar? Let us suppose that the new construction which he has to master is the Final Clause. Generally speaking, his interest in this is first aroused by meeting concrete examples of it ; the construction is then explained by reference to Pure Grammar, and afterwards driven home by repeated question and answer in Latin. Thus: the master begins by saying sentences of the type 'venio ad tabulam ut scribam', these he eluci- dates by the knowledge which the boy already has of Purpose Clauses in English, and then passes at once to drill in Latin ' quo consilio tu ad tabulam Is, m agister ad tabulam it ? ' and so on with all sorts of verbs, one THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR 55 conjugation at a time. The verb -forms must be memorized, if necessary, though it is often found that the oral practice has already taught them. The past tense is then treated in a similar way, and lastly the two tenses are taken together : ' magister ad ianuam it ut earn aperiat (quando ? nunc), Ivi ad campum ut pila luderem (quando ? heri).' I have never been able to discover what is the use of teaching rules about Primary time and Historic time. 1 There are some who think that language cannot be correctly used unless particular constructions and forms are ' deduced ' from some general rule, thus : 1. Syntax. Final sentences in Historic time require the Imperfect Subjunctive. This is a final sentence in Historic time. .*. The Imperfect Subjunctive is to be used. 2. Accidence. The Imperfect Subjunctive of scrlbo is scrlberem. Ludo is a scribo-type of verb. .. The Imperfect Subjunctive of ludo is luderem. What wonderful logic and psychology ! The mind does not work by such stupid acts of ratiocination, but develops a special sense for its linguistic task. I suspect that those who talk most about the intel- lectual discipline of Latin and its power of training the reason mean this sort of barren syllogizing. It must be sufficient to refer them to books on philosophy for enlightenment of mind. If a boy answers the question 'Quo consilio per Allobrogas Caesar iter fecit?' by the sentence 'Eo consilio ut novum iter tentet', he is either making 1 To beginners, that is to say ; common sense is a sufficient guide. 56 THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR a mistake in Syntax, or in Accidence, or in both. If in Syntax, he will be cured not by knowledge of any rule about Historic Sequence, but by an appeal to his common sense, for it is inconceivable he should be so stupid as to use, wittingly, a Present Tense for a past time ; if in Accidence (that is, if he thinks that tentet is a Past Tense), he has not been taught his verb and must learn it, that is all. Grammar, or at least Grammar for boys, does not deal with reasons, but is simply a useful classification of facts. It is well that each boy should, to begin with, make his own grammar, chiefly because what he thus makes will be his own, and he will be reasonably certain that it includes nothing which he does not understand and cannot use. Such a record is useful also in fixing facts in the mind by the help of the ocular memory. The classification in his book will never be final, but always tentative ; so that, e. g. he may begin with a general rule about the gender of -6 nouns of the Third Declension, afterwards modified by a general rule about the -io nouns, which in its turn will be modified by exceptions met with in practice. Again, when he has learnt, one by one, all the parts of the verb and how to use them, it is a useful exercise for him to systematize the accidence of the verb, to see how all the parts are derived from a few stems, and to practise the formation of any part asked of him until the act becomes instinctive ; this is where the Grammar Book becomes of real service, for the boy is ripe for it. At a later time a larger systematization has its uses, and the day may come when a chapter on Gender-in- THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR 57 itself or on the Subjunctive Mood, may be set for study, not as task work for the memory but as a subject of absorbing interest to a growing mind. This is Grammar in the true sense, the only Grammar worth talking about. But the time for it is not yet come : it has to wait on experience. The Note-book (Codex or Libellus) A useful plan for a note-book is the following ; the left-hand page contains the necessary Accidence, while the right-hand is devoted to Ediscenda useful sentences of all kinds for memorizing, e. g. Grammatica. Imperative and pre- sent of the four Conjugations in six columns, No. 1 for the personal pronouns, No. 6 for the verb facio. New verbs will be inserted, as they occur, in their proper columns. (At a later point in the book, a list of principal parts will be begun.) Ediscenda. Quid facis ? Scrlbo pensum. Quid scnbis ? Pensum scrlbo. Quis pensum scfibit ? Ego pensum scrlbo. Quis etiam ? 1 1 1 e pensum scribit. Doces-ne ? Ita : doceo. Num doces ? Minims : non doceO. Nonne discis ? Sane : disco. 'Nominatlvus cum verbo concordat numero et persona.' 58 THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR List of adjectives. Declensions of m 6 n- Quid est hoc ? Creta est. sa, &c. in the sin- Quid teneo? Cretam tenes. gular and plural. Quot sunt paginae ? Multae sunt paginae. Quot paginas vides? Multas pa- ginas video. Qualis est tabula ? Nigra est tabula. Qualem tabulam tango ? Nigram tabulam tangis. Quales sunt pilae? Rotundae sunt pilae. Quales pilas sumo? Rotundas pilas sumis. ' Contrarium quam niger est albus ; sedere est contrarium quam stare.' ' Codex idem fere significat quod libellus/ ' Imperator est is qui imperat ; amicus est is qui amat.' List of numerals in Roman horologium. two columns, Or- dinals and Cardi- nals. And so on. It will be obvious at once how readily such a book lends itself to reference and revision; it should of course contain an index. An example is now given of a more advanced note on Grammar. This will fall about the end of the second year ; by this time the boy has had experience of the Dependent Question in all sorts of forms after all sorts of verbs, and what he has learnt is summarized in the following note. THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR 59 Olausulae Nominates. II : Interrogatio obliqua. Prlncipalia verba sunt interrogo, mlror, nescio, cogito, incertum est, dubium est, intellego, scio, delibero, &c. Interrogatio Obliqua eandem formam obtinet quam Interrogatio Recta, nisi quod verbum in proprium tempus Subiunctivi Modi mutatur, e.g. Quid dlcis ? Non intellego ' quid d I c a s \ Quid est pensum? Interrogavit magister 'quid pensum esset\ Utrum victoria an clades Incertum erat ' utrum vic- fuit ? tOria an clades fuisset \ Quamdiu resistent hostes ? Mlratus est Caesar 'quamdiu hostes restiturl essent'. Quid mihi respondendum Cogitat 'quid sibi respon- est? dendum sit'. Excepta : (1) Num plerumque adhibstur pro particula -ne, e. g. Rediit-ne Marcus post ludum ? Rogavit num Marcus post ludum rediisset. (Etiam : rogavit rediisset-ne Marcus post ludum.) (2) Necne stat pro annon, e. g. Utrum intellegis annon ? Incertum erat utrum intellegeret necne. N.B. Haud scio an, vel nescio an, eundem fere sen sum habet quern puto, e. g. Haud scio an Socrates omnium sapientissimus hominum esset. Such a summary will be learnt by heart. 60 THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR Phrases and Sentences A list of useful sentences and terms not contained in the Grammar at the end of ' Primus Annus ' is here given : 1. Gramrnatica. Quae pars Orationis est ? Cuius casus est nomen ? Cuius numerl est ? Cuius generis est ? Cuius Declinationis est ? Quae pars verbl est ? Nomen, verbum, &c, est. Nominatlvl &c. casus est. Singularis, Pluralis, numerl est ; vel, Singulare, Plurale, est no- men. Masculini &c. (N.B. Neutrl) generis est ; vel, Masculinum &c. est nomen. Primae, &c, Declinationis est. Participium ; Modus Infini- tlvus ; Tertia Persona Praesentis Temporis &c, est. Quale verbum est loquor ? DepOnOns est. Quale verbum est licet ? ImpersOnale verbum est. Quae sunt partes principales ? Verbum DepOnens formam habet Passivam, Actlvum sonsum. Verbum odi formam habet Perfectl temporis, Praesentis significationem. Quern casum regit (vel exi- Ablatlvum casum exigit. git)? PI en us Genet! vum etiam ca- sum admittit. THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR 61 Cuius niodl est verbum ? Inflnltlvl, Subjunctlvl, &c, modi est : vel Infinitivus est. Cuius vocis est ? Activae vocis est : vel Activum, Passivum est. Quae constructio est haec ? Oratio obllqua est : Dativus adimendi est : Ablatlvus absolutus est. Quid respondet ad inter- Ordinalia respondent ad inter- rogatum quotus? rogatum quotus. 2. Ad explicdtionem. O cuius est id membrum quo vides. Visus est actus (vel actio) videndi. Disc 6s sus est actus discedendi. Spectaculum est id quod spectas. Spectator est is qui spectat. A rat rum est id quo arator arat. Privatum intellegimus eum qui nullum magistratum gerit. Rustic us est ad rus pertinens. CompOne (coniunge) has sententias in unam. Respondendum est alio mods, alils vocabulis idem significantibus. Verte (redde) Anglice" ; verte nostra lingua. Verte in vocem Passlvam, in Orationem Rsctam. Responds (exprime) per clausulam, per pronomen. Malus est Ordo vocabulorum. Muta ordinem. Frlgidus ductum est a verbo frlgere. Frigidus contrarium est quam calidus. Polliceor idem fere significat (valet) quod pro mi t to. Quod vocabulum subauditum (omissum) est ? Quid sibi vult tua sententia ? Quid vis dicere ? 62 THE PLACE OF GRAMMAR Synonyms : idem valentia, synonyma. Opposites : contraria. 3. Ad pueros. Sile ! Silste ! Sileatur ! Attende ; hoc age. Propera. Erige te : erectus seds. Responds ad interrogatum. Coniecturam fac. Eloquere ; magna voce loquere. Una voce recitate omnes. Bene recitatum, bene responsum. Pronuntia dlligentius : male pronuntias. Redde (ordinatim) litteras vocabuli ( = spell). Vitium est ; iustum est. Non Latinum, vix Latinum est. Haud grammatics loqueris. Loquere Latins. Compls sententiam : verbum omlsistl. Quid hoc sibi vult ? Llneam ducite subter . . . Dsscrlbe ( = draw, or copy). Ago gratias tibi ; multas gratias. Die mihi, sodes. Itera, sodss, responsum. Mutate inter vos pSnsa. Reddite pSnsa corrScta. Corrige vitia. Scribe Smendats. Extergs tabulam. Agite scaenam. Notas accipite : notas dabo vobis. Poenas dabis. Licet-ne mihi exire ? librum petere? calamum quaerere? CHAPTER VIII THIRD YEAR WORK Scope. By the end of the second year the pupil should have mastered the Basis ; that is to say, he should be quite familiar with all the ordinary con- structions, recognizing them at once when he sees or hears them, and using them himself exactly and readily. The next stage must be the study of Con- tinuous narrative ; this is the proper work of the third year. There are two features of Latin prose which will occupy attention ; the first is the internal structure of the Latin sentence, and, chiefly, its periodic form ; and the second, the connexion of these sentences one with another and the building up of them into paragraphs by means of the characteristic Latin ' transitiones ', whether Conjunctions or other link- words (e. g. ' qui cum rediisset ', ' quibus dictis,' ' hoc ubi vidit ', and the like). The Reading matter will be selected with the above- mentioned ends in view ; it will naturally embrace continuous narrative from Caesar or Livy, or both. Most of this will be ground-breaking work, and it will be hard ; easier reading of some kind should also be provided, and this may well include considerable portions of Ovid. The aim of the reading will be as before, viz. to appropriate as much of the Latin text 64 THIRD YEAR WORK as possible, so as to lead to continually increasing power in vocabulary, construction, and composition. There is no need whatever at this stage to resort to composition which consists of translation from English into Latin ; the sort of exercise which is most useful is indicated in Lesson C. Examples of Lessons A. Pons sublicius iter paene hostibus dedit, ni unus vir fuisset, Horatius Codes, qui positus forte in statione pontis, cum captum repentino impetu Iani- culum atque inde citatos decurrere hostes vldisset trepidamque turbam suorum arma ordinesque relin- quere, reprehensans siugulos obsistensque testabatur nequiquam deserto praesidio eos fugere ; si transitum a tergo reliquissent, iam plus hostium in Palatio Capitolioque quam in Ianiculo fore : itaque monere ut pontem ferro, Igni, quacumque vi possent, inter- rumpant ; se impetum hostium quantum corpore uno posset obsisti excepturum. Vadit inde in primum aditum pontis ; duos tamen cum eo pudor tenuit, Sp. Lartium et T. Herminium, ambos claros genere factlsque. Cum his primam periculi procellam et quod tumultuosissimum pugnae erat parumper sus- tinuit. Deinde eos quoque ipsos, exigua parte pontis relicta, revocantibus qui rescindebant, cedere in tutum coegit. Cunctati aliquamdiu sunt hostes, dum alius alium ut proelium incipiant circumspectant ; pudor deinde commovit aciem et clamore sublato undique in unum hostem tela coniciunt. Quae cum in obiecto cuncta scuto haesissent neque ille minus obstinatus ingenti pontem obtineret gradu, iam impetu conabantur THIRD YEAR WORK 65 detrudere virum, cum simul fragor rupti pontis simul clamor Romanorum pavore subito impetum sustinuit. Turn Codes, ( Tiberine pater ' inquit, ' te sancte precor, haec arma et hunc ml] item propitio flumine accipias.' Itaque armatus in Tiberim desiluit, multisque superin- cidentibus tells incolumis ad suos tranavit, rem ausus plus famae habituram ad posteros quam fidei. Grata erga tantam virtutem civitas fuit ; statua in comitio posita, agri quantum uno die circumaravit datum. Livy ii. 10. 1. A lesson is occupied with the preparation ' of this piece, in school. The following will show the sort of record that the boys have in their note-books of this preparation : Pons sublicius : in sublicls fultus. Sublica autem palus ligneus est. forte adverbium : ' ita accidit ut ibi po- situs esset.' statio praesidium. citatus i. q. summa celeritate ; sed fortius est. reprehensans verbum iteratlvum a prehendo ductum. testabatur affirmabat, testes eos faciens. obsisti verbum passlvum impersonal e. procella tempestas. parumper breve spatium temporis : cf. pau- lisper, semper, &c. in tutum quasi in tutum locum ; sic etiam, in tuto stare, in soli do stare, in solidum desillre. 66 THIRD YEAR WORK pudorcommovit quippe pudebat eos ita contra unum cunctarl. obiecto scutum prae se" ita tenebat ut tela exciperet. obtineret teneret, proprio sensU. simul . . . simul eodem tempore. fragor sonitus est eius quod vi frangitur. sustinuit effecit ut hostes sisterent. propitio benlgno flumine. plus famae sc. fama manet adhuc, sed paucl iam credunt. erga ita enim dicimus ; gratus, bene- volus, benlgnus erga aliquem. comitium pars Romani fori. 2. The lesson is then prepared as Homework ; after it each boy will be expected to know the story and to be able to reconstruct it, and to have mastered all the grammatical points that arise out of it. The work in class will be somewhat as follows. First, before books are opened the following dialogue will take place : M. Quo de viro narratur fabula ? P. De Horatio Coclite narratur. M. Quid fecit Horatius? P. Hostibus restitit Romam oppugnantibus. M. Ubi stationem habebat ? P. In ponte sublicio stationem habebat. M. Et hostes, ubi erant ? P. In Ianiculo monte iam erant. M. ' Vel potius a Ianiculo iam decurrsbant.' Quid fecerunt Roman! mllites ? P. Ordines rellquerunt et in urbem fugerunt. THIRD YEAR WORK 67 M. Tu, Marce, compone has sententias in Qnam. P. Ordinibus relictis in urbem fugSrunt. M. Bene. Quid deinde fecit Horatius ? P. Reprehensabat eos et obsistebat. M. Quibus verbis eos increpuit ? P. Non intellego increpuit. M. Nonne meministl ? culpavit. P. Ita, meminT. Dixit frustra eos pontem relinquere. M. Cur? P. Quod plus hostium in urbe mox futurum esset quam in Ianiculo. M. Quid igitur els imperavit ? P. Imperavit ut pontem omnl vl interrumperent. M. Et quid sibi ipse proposuit ? P. Non intellego sibi proposuit ? M. Quid enim constituit ipse facere ? P. Ipse constituit hostibus resistere in aditu pontis. M. Ita. 'Vadit inde in primum aditum pontis.' So- lusne erat ? P. Minime ; duo vin cum eo stabant, Lartius et Herminius. M. Quid eos tenuit ? P. Pudor eos cum eo tenuit. M. Exprime hoc per verbum pudsre. P. Pudebat eos socium dsserere, M. ' Parumper igitur cum his impetum hostium sus- tinuit.' Quid mox eos iussit ? P. Mox eos iussit in tutum se" recipere. M. Vel imperavit . . . ? P. Imperavit els ut se reciperent. M. Cur? P. Quod exigua pars pontis relicta erat. M. Ita ; vel ' relicta esset '. Intellegisne ? P. Intellego ; hoc enim dixit ipse. E2 68 THIRD YEAR WORK M. Quid deinde fecSrunt hostss ? P. Cunctatl sunt breve tempus, sed postea impetum undique in Horatium faciunt. M. Quid fecit Horatius ? Recessit an restitit ? P. Non recessit, sed obstinatus restitit. M. l Sed tandem iam dstrudebant eum, cum ' . . . quid accidit? P. Audltus est fragor pontis et clamor Romanorum. M. Ita. Pavore autem magno hoc hostes implevit. Quid deinde fscit Horatius ? P. Deum Tiberim precatus est. M. Die mihi ipsa verba eius. Quis potest ? Tu. P. ' Tiberine pater, precor t6, haec arma et hunc mllitem propitio flumine accipias.' M. Ita armatus in flumen desiluit ; quid eo factum est ? P. Incolumis trans flumen tranavit. M. Quemadmodum civitas el gratiam rettulit ? P. Statuam in comitio posusrunt et agrum dedsrunt. 3. A test like this takes about fifteen minutes. Books are now opened and questions like the following are asked on the text : M. 'Nl unus vir fuisset.' Ubi est protasis huius clausulae ? P. Iter paene dedit idem ferS significat quod iter dedisset. M. i Qui positus &c.' Ubi est verbum? P. Testabatur. M. 'Relinquere.' Quae constructio est haec ? P. Oratio obllqua est post verbum vidisset. M. i Reprehensans.' Quae pars verb! est ? P. Participium Praesens est ; concordat cum pronomine qui. THIRD YEAR WORK 69 M. Nequlquam deserto &c.' Verte hoc in Orationem Rectam. P. Nequlquam mllites fugiunt ; si transitum a tergo rellqueritis, iam plus hostium in Palatio erit quam in Ianiculo. M. 'Monere.' Quae constructio est haec ? P. Oratio Obliqua est post verbum testabatur. M. Quid eOs monuit ? P. Monuit ut pontem interrumperent. M. Redde ipsa verba Coclitis. P. l Moneo ut pontem inter rumpatis ; ego impetum hostium quantum uno corpore obsistl potest excipiam.' M. l Cum his prlmam, &c.' Quae pars orationis est cum? P. Praepositio est. M. ' Pugnae.' Quae pars nominis est ? P. Genetivus est casus. M. Qualis Genetivus est ? P. Partltlvus est casus ; ' quod pugnae.' M. 'Eos quoque ipsos.' Quos? P. Lartium et Herminium. M. 'Revocantibus.' Quae constructio est haec ? P. AblatTvus Absolutus est : subaudltum est antecedens els. 31. Cur eos cedere in tutum iussit ? P. Quia exigua pars pontis erat relicta. And so on. The last thing done will be to have the passage read t aloud, without interruption, by members of the class. The rest of the lesson will be spent on the preparation of the next piece. B. An example may now be given of a lesson where the preparation is left entirely to the boys themselves, 70 THIRD YEAR WORK the only thing supplied by the master being the vocabu- lary. This vocabulary will show how much effective teaching can be put into such work, by grouping words and phrases together. Boys are not yet ripe, at this stage, for real dictionary work, but a good deal can be done to prepare the way for it. The more important of these notes should be learnt by heart ; boys enjoy such exercises. Haec fuit ilia dies, in qua Veientibus armis ter centum Fabil ter cecidere duo. una domus vires et onus susceperat urbis, sumunt gentiles arma professa mantis, egreditur castris miles generosus ab Tsdem, 5 e quls dux fieri qullibet aptus erat. lit celerl passu Cremeram tetigere rapacem, turbidus hlbernls ille fluebat aquls. castra loco ponunt : destrictls ensibus ipsl Tyrrhenum valido Marte per agmen eunt : 10 non aliter quam cum Libyca de caute leones invadunt sparsos lata per arva greges. diffugiunt hostes inhonestaque volnera tergo accipiunt : Tusco sanguine terra rubet. sic iterum, sic saepe cadunt. ubi vincere aperte 15 non datur, insidias armaque tecta parant. campus erat, campl claudebant ultima colles silvaque montanas occulere apta feras. in medio paucos armentaque rara relinquunt, cetera virgultis abdita turba latet. 20 ecce velut torrens undls pluvialibus auctus aut nive, quae Zephyro victa tepente fluit, per sata perque vias fertur, nee, ut ante solebat, riparum clausas margine finit aquas: THIRD YEAR WORK 71 sic Fabil vallem latis discursibus implent, 25 quodque vident, sternunt ; nee metus alter inest. quo ruitis, generosa domus ? male creditis hostl : simplex nobilitas, perfida tela cave, fraude perit virtus : in apertos undique campos prosiliunt hostes et latus omne tenent. 30 quid faciant paucl contra tot mllia fortes ? quidve, quod in misero tempore restet, adest ? sicut aper longe" silvls Laurentibus actus fulmineo celeres dissipat ore canes, mox tamen ipse perit, sic non moriuntur inulti, 35 volneraque alterna dantque feruntque manu. una dies Fabios ad bellum mlserat omnes : ad bellum missos perdidit una dies. Ovid, Fast ii. 195. 1. 3. vires et onus. sc. grave onus belli. 1. 4. gentiles, adiectlvum : nonne enim omnes Fabi! eius- dem erant Fabiae gentis ? professa. sensu passivo, voluntaria. 1. 5. generosus. proprie, bono vel nobill genere natus. 1. 7. rapax. rapax est is qui ex more semper rapit, cf. vo rax (lupus), fugax (cervus), audax (miles), ferax (arbor), minax, tenax, edax, &c. 1.10. Marte. sc. bello vel virtute: ita enim Ceres frumentum, Bacchus vlnum, &c, indicant. 1. 11. cautes. saxum praeruptum. 1. 13. in honest a. honesta enim a fronte, turpia a, tergo sunt volnera. 1.14. rubet. rubraest. Eodemmodo flavere est flavus esse, albere albus esse &c. ; rubescere autem est ruber fieri, flavescere flavus fieri, &c. 1. 17. campl ultima, ultimum campum. 1. 18. occulereapta. apta ad feras celandas. 1. 19. rara. hie et illlc. 1. 20. virgulta. silva humilis et densa. 1.22. tepente. tepere est tepidus esse; tepidus autem medium est inter frlgidus et calidus. Vere nives Zephyro tepido solvuntur. 72 THIRD YEAR WORK 1. 23. sata. (n. pi.) sc. agros satos (sero sevi satum) : agricola enim agros serit. 1. 24. fin it. non continet aquas intra marginem clausas. 1. 27. male, male facitis quod tarn perfido hostl creditis. 1. 28. simplex, quia dolum non suspicatur. 1. 32. restat. sc. reliquum est. 1. 34. fulmineo. fulmineum est 6s quia tamquam fulmen micat et rapide hue illuc ferit. 1. 35. inulti. sensu passive. The test of the lesson will be the same as in the last -, questions will be asked with a view to discover- ing whether the story has been understood, then books will be opened and the text gone through. Finally the text will be read aloud by the class. Part of the passage will, it need hardly be said, be learnt by heart. C Latin Composition, The story selected can be adapted by the master to illustrate any constructions in which it is desired to practise the class ; in all cases, the internal structure of each period, and the connexions between the several periods, will be emphasized. Aesop's fables lend themselves well to this kind of work ; and the subject-matter is generally familiar to boys. M. Titulus est Stultus Cervus. Quale animal est cervus ? P. Cervus est animal celere quod longa cornua habet. M. Quis non intel legit cervus? ' Cervus quondam ad fontem bibebat, et forte in aqua imaginem suam conspexit.' Quid conspexit? Tu ! P. Imaginem suam in aqua conspexit. M. Compone has sententias in unam, Marce. P. Cervus olim, qui ad fontem bibebat, imaginem suam in aqua conspexit. THIRD YEAR WORK 73 M. Vel . . . Quis potest ? P. Cervus olim ad fontem bibebat, cum imaginem suam in aqua conspexit. M. l Dum ramosa cornua miratur,' P. Non intellego ramOsa. M. Raniis arboris similia : quis non intellegit ? ' Dum igitur ramosa cornua miratur, crurumque nimiam tenui- tatem contemnit/ P. Non intellego tenuitatem. M. Quis potest expllcare? . . . Qualia erant crura eius ? Gal ! P. Tenuia erant crura eius. M. Ita est ; tenue est cervl crus, crassum est elephantl crus. Quid igitur contemnebat ? P. Tenuitatem crurum contemnebat. M. * Hoc igitur dum facit, subito venatorum vocibus perterritus est, et longo cursu per campum fugit.' Corn- pone has sententias in unam, Servi. P. Venatorum vocibus perterritus longo cursu per campum fugit. Jf. ' Tandem in densam silvam confugit, in qua cor- nibus impeditus,' . . . Quomodo impedltus est? P. Cornibus impeditus est propter densam silvam. M. * Cornibus impeditus, mox a canibus exceptus est et crudeliter dllaceratus est.' P. Non intellego dllaceratus. M. Quid slgnificat di- vel dis- ? P. In multas partes. M. Dllacerare est in multas partes dentibus lacerare. P. Intellego. M. Tunc moriens hoc dlcitur locutus esse : ' O me miserum ! O me stultum ! nunc demum intellego . . .' P. Non intellego demum. 3/. Nunc tandem : dicimus tamen nunc demum, et 74 THIRD YEAR WORK turn demum. 'Nuncdemum intellego quam utilia mihi sint ea quae despexeram (vel contempseram) quantumque noceant mihi ea quae laudaram.' Quid dixit tandem intellegere se, Tite ? P. Dixit se intellegere quam utilia sibi essent ea quae contempserat . . . M. Contempserat? P. Contempsisset. M. Iterum vobis totam narrabo fabulam : Stultus Cervus Cervus quondam qui ad fontem bibebat, imaginem suam forte in aqua conspexit. Qui dum ramosa cornua miratur crurum nimiam tenuitatem contemnit, vena- torum subito clamoribus perterritus longo cursu per campum fugere incepit. Tandem in densam silvam confugit, in qua cornibus impeditus mox a canibus exceptus crudeliter dilaceratus est. Tunc moriens banc dicitur edidisse vocem : ' O me miserum ! O me stultum ! nunc demum intellego quam mihi sint utilia ea quae despexeram quantumque noceant mihi eaquae laudaveram '. It goes without saying that all new words will be dictated (e.g. tenuitas, tenuitatis, f . ; despicio -spicere, -spexi, -spectum), and that old words will be revised in the oral preparation whenever there is any doubt about the accidence of them. The lesson as set out takes about fifteen minutes ; and the Homework will be to reproduce the story. It is not intended that it shall take the same form in all the exercises ; different boys will use different constructions and arrange their sentences in different ways, the only rule being that none shall use a construction which he does not know to be Latin. CHAPTEE IX TRANSLATION It is often asked what use is made of Translation under the Direct Method. Before answering the question, it is well to define the term. Translation, then, may be regarded either as a means of instruction, or as an end in itself. 1. As a means of instruction, translation may be used for several distinct purposes, viz. : (a) for explaining the meaning of Latin words or sentences to the pupil, (6) for testing whether the pupil understands a Latin text, (c) for testing his ability to compose in Latin. A few words are necessary under each of these heads. (a) At first sight it seems the quickest and most obvious way of explaining the meaning of new words to translate them into English. Now, as we have already pointed out in a previous chapter, as often as this method is resorted to, the Latin lesson is stopped for the time being, just as it is stopped when the teacher is holding forth about Past Participles, or doing anything else by which the proper exercise for learning Latin, viz. hearing and speaking Latin, is unnecessarily suspended. What makes the practice bad is the mental interruption on the part of the pupil, 76 TRANSLATION and if this interruption is incessant it may quite easily efface any impression made by the Latin spoken and heard in the course of the lesson. For learning a language, and for training the language-sense, it is not merely necessary that the meaning of an isolated word (let us say seges) shall be known, but that the word shall be associated with other words belonging to the same group they may be words which exist already in the learner's mind, or words which occur in the context, still to be learnt. This is the principle by which the master will decide when he is to translate and when not. For instance, an odd word like struthiocamelus may very well be Englished at once as ' ostrich ' and so done with ; but a word like seges belongs to a whole group of words which any learner of Latin ought to know, which should be part of his mental furniture, ready for instant use. The note on seges in a sentence like ' maturescentes iam segetes, nondum enim erant messae, incendit ', might read as follows : ' seges vocatur quidquid ab agricola satum est; vere autem seritur, aestate fit maturum, auctumno iam metitur. Instrumentum metendi falx est, actus metendi messis.' This may seem a laborious way of telling a boy the meaning of a word, but it is true economy in the end. Not only is the act of taking down such a sentence, and afterwards of repeating it, good exercise in itself, but the resulting knowledge enriches the learner in the best possible way. For learning a language is a process of growth by which right associations are established in the mind. (b) Translation may be used for testing whether TRANSLATION 77 the pupil understands his Latin text. The chief objection to this use of it has been stated already, viz. that it distracts the mind from the Latin which is the learner's main business ; but another important objection must now be mentioned. The difficulty about translation is this, that quite often the learner cannot show whether he really understands the Latin by using English, and he is therefore driven to resort to a ' sort of English ' which may be called Crib. Let us see how the test of translation works in dealing with a simple expression like me iudice; if the learner translates ' in my judgement ', this by itself (as any teacher will point out) does not ensure that he understands what he is doing he may be wrong in all sorts of ways ; while if he translates ' I being judge ', he shows indeed that he understands,but at what a cost! Is any teacher content that boys shall be laboriously trained to think and speak and write in this sort of Crib-English ? This is an argument which ought to appeal to those who think that Latin is chiefly a train- ing in English. For it is wonderful how the mind is lured on at every step to perpetrate enormities which do violence to its native idiom, and to consent to alienisms which it would never dream of, in using English freely ; every teacher knows the brand of them, ' which having been done ', ' cold as to his limbs ', ' Cicero being consul ', ' since these things were so ', and a hundred others. And it is not merely the immature mind which is thus lured on. The sort of thing described frequently ends by destroying all true sense of the vernacular and by producing a style (some gentle ironist in the past called it Dean's English) 78 TRANSLATION which nobody can read who takes pleasure in the pure idiom of his own language. ' No translator/ says Dryden, ' that would write with force or spirit should dwell on the mere words of his author.' And what purpose after all does this exercise of translation serve from the point of view of the Latin teacher, as distinguished from the English teacher? None whatsoever ; for a boy can show that he under- stands me iudice without resorting to English at all, by a simple explanation like ' ut ego iudico ' or ' mea sententia ', and by answering (if it is really necessary) the question f quae constructio est haec ? ' (c) Latin Prose Composition is an excellent exercise for one who is ripe for it. The objection to much of it is, that the language from which the translation into Latin is required to be made, is not English but Crib ; where this is the case it is not worth doing ; there are better exercises which serve the same pur- pose. Real Prose Composition should wait until the learner has some mastery of idiom in both tongues, and has been trained to compare these idioms. 2. Translation, where it is an end in itself, is an art. The exercise, in this sense, is the same in kind as Latin Prose Composition. All that needs to be said about it here is that nobody is likely to do it well unless he already knows the language well from which he is translating. When translation is begun in earnest (and I think this should be in the fourth year of Latin), a thorough study should be made it is a most interesting thing of Comparative Idiom ; the young pupil will then see, to take a simple point, how a language which has many passive par- TRANSLATION 79 ticiples but few useful active ones, and which is rich in Dependent Clauses but not in adverbial phrases, does its work as compared with a language in which the opposite conditions hold. Even before such a study as this, translation into English, that is to say, real translation, is a good exercise when employed in moderation for a definite purpose. It has a special use in testing the appreciation of poetry. CHAPTEK X SOME USEFUL EXERCISES In the ordinary sense of the word, Revision is not necessary in Direct Method teaching ; for every lesson is, or can easily be made, a revision lesson. A good master will ' keep the ball rolling ' ; words and con- structions are not learnt in order to be passed by and dropped, but in order to be remembered and put to constant use. The following are examples of special exercises which will be found useful from time to time. 1. Memory Exercises. Every boy ought to be able to reel off lists of words like the Numerals, the Months, the Pronouns in any selected case (mi hi, tibi, el vel sibi, nobis, vobis, els vel sibi), the Possessives (meus, tuus, eius vel suus, noster, vester, eorum vel suus), &c. The work in the Numerals can be varied in an interesting manner by the usual questions on Multi- plication and Addition (before the Distributives are known, the Alternative Form ' bis duo sunt quattuor ' can be used) : e. g. : Quot sunt bis decern? Quoties sex sunt quattuor et vlglntl ? Quot sunt novies novem? Quoties novem sunt sexies sex? SOME USEFUL EXERCISES 81 To know the list of Prepositions does not of neces- sity confer any power to use them, and the better exercise is for the master to call the Preposition while the boys give examples, e. g. : M. Inter. P. Marcus inter Gaium et Servium sedet. M. Supra. P. Carta est supra tabulam. M, Citra. P. Magister citra ianuam stat. M. Sub. P. Liber est sub mensa. M. vel ? P. Quis librum sub mensam iecit ? Abstract nouns may be tested in the same way : e.g. : M. Magnus. P. Magnitude. M. Celeriter it. P. Summa celeritate it. M, Actus discedendi. P. DiscSssus vel discessio. 2. The Subject question, &c., e. g. : 'Caesar in edito loco castra posuit/ M. Subiectum. P. 1. Quis castra posuit? P. 2. Caesar castra posuit. M. Objectum. P. 1. Quid Caesar posuit? P. 2. Castra Caesar posuit ? M. Adverbium. P. 1. Ubi Caesar castra posuit? P. 2. Inloco edito Caesar castra posuit? And so on. The value of an exercise like this is that it gives the boys practice in asking questions ; it is well, for obvious reasons, that they should from the beginning have their share of asking and not always be answerers. Similar exercises are these : Verte sententiam in primam personam, (or better) Tu es Brutus ; narra febulam de te. Verte in Passlvam Vocem. Verte in Praeteritum Tempus. Verte in Orationem Obllquam, and the like. 1278-4 F 82 SOME USEFUL EXERCISES 3. Any construction in which practice is desired can be worked for a few minutes every day. E.g. when the Gerundive construction has once been taught, short drills like the following may open every lesson : M. Quid erat pensum, Marce ? P. Pensum erat fabu- lam parare. M. Quid igitur faciendum erat? P. Paranda erat fabula. M. Nonne erat aliquid scrlbendum ? P. Minime ; nihil scrtbendum erat. M. Aperite libros : quid nunc faciendum est ? P. Ape- riendl sunt libri. 31. Tu, Marce, incipe recitare. Quid Marco faciendum est ? P. Incipiendum est Marco recitare. Or it may be the Petitio Obliqua, in which it is desired to give practice : M. Collige pensa : quid tibi impero ? P. Imperas mihi ut pensa colligam. M. Quid Gaium rogo, Tite ? P. Rogas eum ut pensa colligat. M. Aperite libros ; quid vobls impero ? P. Imperas nobis ut libros aperiamus. M. Quid magister pueros iubet? P. Pueros iubet libros aperire. And so on. 4. Vocabulary. Frequent exercises will be given in order to keep the vocabulary fresh. The importance of grouping words together so that they may form lively associations in the mind has already been insisted upon. Generally speaking, no absolutely new ground should be broken by special exercises of SOME USEFUL EXERCISES 83 this sort; but vocabulary already known can be enriched and extended, especially by drawiug attention to Synonyms and Opposites ; e. g. : Adiectiva quae formam indicant. Rotundus, quadratus. Latus, angustus. Tenuis, crassus. Gracilis, pinguis, &c. Quid est contrarium quam tenuis 1 ? Quid est tenue ? Quale animal est sus? Estne gracile 1 Quale igitur'? &c. And so with adjectives of colour, material, and the like, e. g. : Tabula llgnea, uncus ferreus, hasta ferrata (h. e. ferro ornata, non ex ferro facta), denarius argenteus, catena aurea, vestis aurata(quid significat aurata?),&c. Similarly the chief verbs of action may be revised, e.g.: Trudo, traho. Tollo, pono. Aperio, claudo. DisiungO, coniungo. Exsplro, insplro, &c. Another form of the exercise is to group the voca- bulary round some common thing, e.g. a house, the soldier, the body and its functions. Pictures are good for this purpose ; and the advantage of them is that the master can make the exercise as easy or as difficult as he likes (see Granger's Pictures and Jones's Picture Stories). 5. I refrain from saying anything about Free. Com- position, because it is an exercise which depends for its value almost entirely on the incommunicable gift F 2 84 SOME USEFUL EXERCISES of the teacher, and it must therefore be left to his discretion. A good exercise is to set occasionally a paragraph or story for silent reading and then ask the class for a summary, either orally or in writing. The taking down of Latin from the teacher's lips is at all stages, after the very first, a matter of supreme importance. Every note which the teacher gives is to that extent an exercise in Dictation. It is sometimes well, however, to give a formal exercise in Dictation, introducing a few words not hitherto heard by the class ; this practice may serve the purpose of showing the teacher where he is misheard by some of the pupils or even where his own pronunciation is not quite exact. CHAPTEE XI SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED That the Direct Method does not train the Reason, I have never been able to understand what this means, and I can only counter it by asking: Can anybody use a language intelligibly without also using it intelligently ? And if he is using it intelli- gently is he not exercising his reason 1 To answer either of these questions in the negative seems to me to be an act of pure scepticism, like doubting the reality of existence. Let us take a very simple case : a boy answers the question Quid facio? by the sentence Mensam tangis. It is a very little sentence, but it cannot be constructed without the exercise of reason. For even in this little sentence a very large variety of error is possible ; and wherever error is possible, a correct answer is prima facie evidence that the answerer is a rational being, using his reason. Another form of the same objection is that, though the learner may be using language correctly, yet he may not really know what he is about. For instance, when he says respondet eras se rediturum, it is asked : Does he know that the clause which he is con- structing is a Noun Object Clause 1 To this I reply : He may know or he may not know, it all depends on the stage which he has reached in his lessons. But it is 86 SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED of no importance at all whether he knows it or not, because knowledge of this kind confers no constructive power ; and I will undertake to obtain in a few minutes by Socratic methods, from any boy who can construct such a sentence, the inference that it is a Noun Object Clause. I have already dealt with the notion that a boy does not understand a construction unless he can give a rule for it. To construct sentences by rule seems to me to be fit only for a somewhat low kind of intelligence, and to be a mechanical act, not a truly rational one. The most astonishing comment which I ever heard on Direct Method teaching was that the answers given were mere memory work ; for instance, that the boy answers mens am tangis because he remembers the same answer or something like it being given before. This almost seems to imply that learners can know their lesson too well ; si sic omnes ! The author of this comment must have been accustomed to an atmo- sphere of profound thinking in his own class-room. It is undoubtedly true that boys remember their Latin more easily when taught by the Direct Method ; that is a natural consequence of their being interested in it, as well as of the large amount of practice they get in using it. That you can never be sure how much the boy understands. You can be just as sure as when he is using English ; if he answers correctly and rationally, the presumption is that he understands. It is, of course, "nothing more SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED 87 than a presumption, logically, for no man, not even a teacher, can get inside another man's mind. This objection really comes from those who do not know what the Direct Method means ; they seem to think that the boys merely listen, with an occasional inter- jection of Intellego or Non intellego, and that the teacher is as completely in the dark about the mind of his audience as a man preaching a sermon from a pulpit. The teacher as a matter of fact is master of the situation, and if he does not find out how much his class understands it is entirely his own fault. As regards the study of Latin texts, it is sometimes forgotten that one can judge as easily from the reading of a Latin passage as from the reading of an English passage whether the reader understands it ; nor is it necessary always to be asking obvious questions in order to make sure that he does understand. The Direct Method awakens a power of divining the meaning of words from their context or from the tone of the speaker which is quite astonishing to those not trained in it. For instance: the sentence duo- decim sunt menses in anno would, as a rule, be instantly understood by a pupil ignorant of the word menses, and he would make no fuss about it ; whereas any boy untrained in the method would not be satisfied, even if he thought he understood, until he had either had the word translated for him or been made to translate it himself, simply because he has come to look on translation as a necessity. It is a difference in language-sense ; the one boy is lacking in a sense which has become strongly developed in the other. 88 SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED That the speaking of Latin does not make a Lathi author easier to understand. What is meant by this is, apparently, that the Latin used in question and answer by master and pupil is of an easy kind, the sentences being short and the con- structions simple ; whereas the Latin used by Cicero or Livy is more difficult, the sentences being long and the constructions varied. It is implied that the first sort of Latin is no help towards understanding the second sort. This argument raises the question, What is the relation between the simple speech of everyday life and the literary language of the great masters ? Will any one pretend that they are really different, except in the fact that the literary language is more careful, more deliberate, more elaborate, and, frequently, more involved ? The words (most of them), the general order of the words, the fundamental constructions, are just the same in both cases ; and anybody who knows these elements of language is well equipped for under- standing either a simple or a literary style. The only difference will be that in reading a literary style he will need to give closer study, greater attention, and a longer time to what he is doing. No one asserts that a young learner will ever be able, because he practises speaking Latin, to understand Livy at first hearing if his master reads out a chapter to him. The relation between the two styles is, in fact, just the same in Latin as it is in English. It would be an interesting exercise to read a typical passage from Burke to a class of boys, of the age at which they frequently begin Livy, and then to test them with a SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED 89 view to seeing how much they had carried away, I will not say of the author's language, but of his essential meaning. It would not be very much ; yet that would be no reason for concluding that a know- ledge of spoken English was of no use for under- standing Burke. No man in his senses thinks that a difficult author can be read without deep study. What happens in studying a passage of Livy is this ; the difficult, involved period is taken to pieces, and shown to be composed, with astonishing skill, of a number of quite simple sentences or clauses. The latter are the substance of style, and any one who knows the language in which they are written, might himself construct most of them or something like them ; they fall therefore with a familiar sound on his ears. Only the master hand, however, can mould them into a finished work of art ; all that the learner can do is to read with understanding and enjoyment that which the master has written. And he is far more likely to read with understanding and enjoyment, when each phrase and sentence out of which the period is built has for him the reality and significance and charm of the spoken word. That what is wanted in Latin is chiefly a receptive, not a constructive, knowledge of the language. This means that the learner ought to be taught to understand and especially to translate Latin, but not necessarily to write or speak Latin himself. The obvious thing to say in reply is that it is entirely a question of degree. Does ' writing Latin ' mean 90 SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED composing sentences which illustrate the ordinary constructions of the language, or does it mean writing prose like Cicero? If it means the former, as it seems to do in the mouth of some critics, then the statement under consideration really advocates half-knowledge instead of exact knowledge ; and everybody knows what degree of ignorance half-knowledge usually means. It is quite impossible, in the learning stage of any study, to separate receptive power from con- structive, so completely are they bound up with each other. You might just as well say that Algebra ought to be taught in such a way that the learner can understand the solution of a problem when it is set out for him, without being able to solve the problem for himself. The only knowledge worth having is con- structive knowledge, for that requires self-activity, and there is no real knowledge without self-activity. There was published not very long ago a report by a London University examiner on the translations from French and German done by candidates for Science degrees in the University. Every Science candidate is re- quired to translate a passage from one or other of these languages, that is, to show what is called a ' receptive knowledge ' of them ; and the examiner's criticism was that while the candidates had, as a rule, a fair vocabulary, they often showed such complete ignorance of grammar as to destroy the sense of the most ordinary constructions ; for instance, some such words as les entreprises que font les Francais ' (at the end of a sentence) were rendered ' the enterprises which make the Frenchman what he is '. This is quite typical of half-knowledge generally ; it has no SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED 91 conscience and is, in fact, capable of anything. I should not like to say that half- knowledge, in the case of a grown man, is worse than no knowledge at all ; that would depend on his general powers of mind. But anybody who imagines that he can teach a language like Latin, to young learners, in such a way that they shall be able to understand it when they read it, but not to write it themselves, is provoking his Nemesis. APPENDIX I The Phonetics of Latin When a language is used habitually in the class-room, it is a matter of experience that everybody concerned becomes more sensitive about the pronunciation of it. These brief notes are intended to pick out certain points not always insisted upon strongly enough, especially by teachers who have not had a phonetic training. The Reformed Pronunciation is assumed as a matter of course without argument ; for although Mumpsimus still raises his voice from time to time in the press, his cause is a lost one and nobody who counts for anything really heeds him. 1. Vowels. It is not enough that the quantity of the vowels should be regarded ; their quality is of equal importance. Almost every language has its characteristic basis of articulation, affecting the quality of its vowels. In Latin, speaking generally, the long vowels are close, the short vowels open ; in this re- spect, it may be observed, Latin is the very opposite of Greek, which made its long vowels open and its short ones close. e, therefore, is a close vowel ; it has the sharp piercing sound so characteristic of French e. It is akin, that is to say, to % and frequently passes into it (puppes, puppis). e is open as in English ' men '. THE PHONETICS OF LATIN 93 In pronouncing the long vowels e and 6 care must be taken to eradicate the off-glide (ei, ou) which is so marked in Southern English ; similarly, the u must be the full rounded vowel with no perceptible on -glide (yu). It has been supposed that the e resulting from com- pensatory lengthening (in words like evltat) was an open e; there is no ground for this belief, for the examples given by grammarians of the true e sound include words of this kind (evitat, eligit, &c). The diphthongs present no difficulty. The so-called ' hidden quantities ' in words like magnus, mensa, rectus, should be particularly attended to ; if these words are rightly pronounced from the beginning, they cause no difficulty whatsoever, for the right pronunciation becomes habit. Two sound- laws will enable the teacher to remember many of them, where otherwise he might be uncertain. (a) Wherever in participles a ' voiced ! consonant becomes by assimilation ' breathed ', the preceding vowel is lengthened, e. g. : tego : pp. tectus (= tegtus) ; c&do : sup. casum or cassum ( = cad-tum). (b) Before -ns- and -nf- a short vowel is lengthened ; e. g. conf Ido, conscius, Infans, insula, mensa. Whatever may have been the earlier usage in regard to such words (it is held by some scholars that the omission of the nasal, in pronunciation, was universal), there seems to be no doubt that by Cicero's time the n had been restored by analogy, both in writing and in speaking. Comparative grammar shows that there was a well-marked tendency in 94 THE PHONETICS OF LATIN other Indo-European languages to lengthen the vowel before -ns (cf. KvOcls, bovs). 2. Consonants. d, unlike the English sound, was a true dental. It tended therefore to pass into I, which was also a dental, e. g. Ulixes, lacrima. h. Roman 'Arry had his difficulties with this letter. It was restored in certain words by learned coteries in the last generation of the Republic, but even educated Romans were ap- parently uncertain in which words it was pro- nounced. The simplest plan seems to be to pronounce it when it is written, not otherwise. 1 r should be strongly trilled. Special care must be taken with the pronunciation of it (1) before another consonant (carpo, pardus) ; (2) at the end of a word (contrast tenear and tinea). s is breathed, never voiced. It must therefore never be pronounced like z. v (u consonantal) was neither a semi-vowel like Eng- lish iu, nor a labio-dental spirant like English v,but a bi-labial spirant pronounced with the lower lip much more forward than in our v. Those who have heard a Swabian pronounce words like ' Wein ' know the sound exactly. If one of the two English sounds must be fixed upon, it is far better to pronounce it as v than as w. Under the early Empire the sound became a pure labio-dental and, as such, passed into all the Romance languages. 1 Those who wish for further information can consult Nieder- mann's Latin Phonetics (Routledge). THE PHONETICS OF LATIN 95 Double consonants must be scrupulously pronounced ; if care is taken from the beginning, boys will have no difficulty in uttering words like reddunt, vallum and the like as true spondees. In pat rem and similar words the syllabic division, however, is pa-trem. Assimilation played a large part in Latin phonetics ; thus obtineo, urbs, adtollo were pronounced, as might be expected, optineo, urps, attollo. Under Assimila- tion comes the well-known law Brevis Brevians, which gives us modo, cito, cave, nonne, and scores of similar words. We cannot, however, hope always to catch the veritable Roman accent; let us take all the care we can where we have certain knowledge to go upon. APPENDIX II Additional First .Year Lessons. Fabulae Most of the early Lectiones either as they stand or by a change into the first person are dramatic repre- sentations of the boy's own experiences in class, though scarcely consequent enough to be called plays. XX and XXI, however, lend themselves well to the purpose. Lectio XX. Two boys stand out. M. * Hie est agricola. Hie est Titus, agricolae filius ; Titus tredecim annos natus est. ' (i) Quis es ? Agricola. l Agricola sum.' (ii) Titus. ' Titus sum, agricolae filius.' M. (Tito). ' Visne Romam ire ? ' Titus. * Romam ire vole' 96 ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS M. (Agricolae). ' Audisne ? Filius tuus Romam ire vult. Quid tu dicis ? ' A. ' Ego hodie Romam eo. Veni mecum, ml fill.' T. ' Ago tibi gratias, venio tecum Romam.' A. l Procul Roma abest. Potesne ambulare ? ' T. * Possum sed nolo. Nonne equos habsmus ? ' A. i Verum dicis ; quia Roma procul abest, equl n5s Romam vehunt.' (In sellam ascendunt, et considunt quasi in eqms.) M. (Agricolae). ' Qualis est equus tuus ? Agrkola. 'Ma- gnus est : celeriter it. 5 ( Tito). Qualem equum tu habes ? T. i Lentum equum ego habeo.' M . ' Quid tenes ? Baculum est. Fen equum baculo. ' T. ' Ferio equum baculo ; nunc celeriter it.' M. Quales sunt viae ? Ambo. ' Aequae et latae sunt viae.' M. Oppidum procul vides. Interroga ilium de oppido. T. l Quid video?' A. 'Oppidum vides.' T. ' Quam splendidum est oppidum. Quomodo vocatur A. f Roma vocatur.' M. Nunc prope Romam estis. (Tito). Interroga de porta. T. i Portam video. Quae est ilia porta ? ' A. 'Latina porta est. Prope portam Latinam sumus.' (equo) Siste ! T. (equo) Siste ! (Equl sistunt.) A. * Descende ab equo.' T. * Ab equo descendo.' M. Interroga ' Cur ? ' T. ' Cur ab equis dsscendimus ? ' A. 'Quia viae intra murum iniquae sunt et angustae.' In a similar way the two walk round Rome and ask each other questions, thus introducing the vocabulary ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAH LESSONS 97 of XXI. To make the work more general, half the form may take the part of Agricola and half that of Titus. Others may be set to copy the play down as it is composed. Lectio XX VI I, (The boys know nothing of the story.) M. 'Romanus cum Hispano Massiliam it. Haec est via.' Tft (P. 1) es Romanus ; tu (P. 2) Hispanus ; tu (P. 3) es Narrator. Narrator, describe scaenam. N, Haec est via. Intrant Romanus et Hispanus. M. (P. 1). Die aliquid Hispano. Romanus. Salve tu, quis es ? Hispanus. Et tu salve. Ego Hispanus sum et tu . . . ? Romanus. Romanus sum. Quo is ? H. Massiliam eo. R, Ego etiam Massiliam eo. Vlsne mecum ire ? H. Ita volo. Una Massiliam ibimus. M. Die ' a sinistra est silva/ H. A s. est silva. M. Die aliquid de silva. R. Quam pulchra est silva. M. Duo Galll ex silva exsiliunt. Hastas tenent. To es (P. 4) alter Gallus, tu (P. 5) alter. G. 1. Specta ! Vidssne duos viros ? G. 2. Video ! Alter Romanus est, alter Hispanus. G. 1. Vlsne mecum eos oppugnare ? G. 2. Volo. Sume hastam et sta mecum prope silvam. G. 1. Cum ad silvam advenient, exsiliemus et eOs oppugnabimus. M. Narra, Narrator. N. ' Duo Galll ex silva exsiliunt. Hastas tenent.' 1276-4 G 98 ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS It. Ecce duo virl ex silva exsiliunt ! Qui sunt ? B. Galli sunt. Quid tenent ? H. Hastas tenent. Quid faciunt ? B. Contra nos currunt. H. Nos hastls oppugnabunt. B. Timesne? H. Egone Gallos timeo ? Minima. R. Visne mecum pugnare ? H. Ita ; socii erimus. B. Stringe gladium ; una nos defendemus. G.1(G. 2). Ecce ! Fluvius prope viam fluit. Trude Hispanum hasta in fluvium. G. 2. Sine mora hoc faciam. Heus Hispane, I in fluvium. H. Eheu ! In fluvium cado : neque natare possum. In imum fluvium consldo. Vale, Romane. Nunc solus pugnas. Ego mortuus sum. G. 1. (socio) Bene fecisti ! B. Eheu! Gallus alter socium meum in fluvium hasta trusit, neque ille natare potest. In imum fluvium consedit. Mortuus est. Vale, Hispane. Nunc solus contra duos Gallos pugno. Narrator. ' Haud procul abest parvus murus. Romanus circum se" spectat et murum videt.' B. Ecce ! murum video ! illuc curram, me post murum ponam, Gallos exspectabo. Narrator. i Romanus post murum se ponit.' G. 1. Ecce. Romanus fugit ! Timidus est. G. 2. Se post murum posuit. Nos timet. Tu propera et eum occlde. G. 1. Tu veni mecum. G. 2. Ego fessus sum ; post te veniam. N. ' Gallus muro appropinquate G. 1. Accipe hoc ! ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS 99 N. 'Hastam trudit.' B. Paene mortuus sum ! G. 1. Eheu. Romanus hastam vltavit. B. Tu nunc accipe hoc. N. * Romanus Galium gladio ferit.' G. 1. (exclamat) Amice ml ; venl et Romanum occide. Ego mortuus sum. Vale. G. 2. Fortasse. Vale. B. Primum occidi, nunc alterum occidam. N. ' Romanus super murum salit.' G. 2. Ms miserum ! Romanus super murum salit et me" oppugnabit. Solus nunc pugno. Neque Ro- manum vincere possum. Times ; fugam peto. B. Heus tu, siste et pugna ! Esne timidus ? Te capiam. 6r. 2. Quam celeriter Romanus currit ! Mox me" capiet et occldet. B. Tandem te cepi. Accipe hoc. Nunc mortuus es. G. 2. Ita : mortuus sum. Vals. B. Sic solus ambos Gallos occldere potul. Galh. o spectators, alter cum altero humi iacent et si nemo illos inveniet semper ibi iacebunt. Nunc Massiliam ibo. Vos valete et plaudite. A similar method may be employed with many of the other Lectiones and it is not always necessary for the plot to be previously known ; in fact it provides greater interest, if it is allowed to unfold itself as the composition progresses. In this way the substance of the coming Lectio is given first by the boys them- selves. One other example from actual experience may be of interest. Lectio XL VI had been finished, and one of the boys was told to stand out, and repre- sent the dux in front of his praetorium, and to summon g2 100 ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS his tribuni and centuriones. They were told to ask him questions about striking camp, the enemy, and the coming battle, and to receive the day's orders. By suggesting a few questions here and there, the whole of the matter of the Lectio was given in the replies of the dux. One of the boys then suggested that four characters would be enough besides the dux. Accordingly the four best were chosen and the ' drama- tic conversation ' quickly gone through again. The rest of the class was then divided into four groups of milites and each of the original four went to a group and repeated the instructions in answer to the questions of the group. Let us finally take an example of a method of dealing with a ready made play. The play is the ' Polyphe- mus V and its actual words were arrived at in the following manner. First a sketch of the circumstances was given in Latin with a short explanation of the characters Ulixes and Polyphemus. Then the cast was arranged Ulixes, Polyphemus, XII Nautae, Alii Cyclopes, Aries et oves and the circumstances of the first scene given. M. (Ulixl). Ubi estis tu et nautae tul? Ul. In caverna sumus. M. (HI.) Quail in caverna estis ? Ul. Magna in caverna sumus. M. (Ul.) Die : 'Ecce ! In caverna ingentl sumus.' Ul. Ecce ! in caverna ingentl sumus. M. (Ul) Cuius domus est? Ul. Cyclopis domus est. 1 From ' Decern Fabulae ', by Paine, Mainwaring, and Miss Ryle, Clarendon Press. ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAK LESSONS r 101 : 31. (Ul.) Nonne nuper Cyclopem vldistis? Ul. Ita. Cyclopem nuper vidimus. M . Compone in unam sententiam per relatlvum . Ul. Cyclopis domus est quern nuper vidimus. M. Sine dubio eius caverna est. Tantumne unquam monstrum vidistl ? N. i. Minime. Nunquam tantum monstrum vidi. M. (N. ii.) Compara eum cum monte. N. ii. Maior est quam mons. M.Aut...? N. ii. Maior est monte. M. Ita, aut *non minor monte ille est.' N. ii. Non minor monte ille est. M. (N. Hi.) Videtur similis hominl ? N, Hi. Minime. Dissimilis hominl vidstur. M. (iV. iv.) Quot oculos habet ? N. iv. Unum oculum habet. M. Ubi? N. iv. In fronte unum oculum habet. M. Qua in parte frontis ? a dextra ? N". iv. In media fronte . . . M. (N. v.) Ubi Cycl5pem vidistl? N, v. In agris Cyclopem vidi. M. Quid ibi faciebat ? N. v. Gregem in agris cOgsbat. M. Ita, vel pascebat sed quae animalia in agris pa- scebat ? N. v. Ov6s in agris pascebat. M. Ita : oves et capros. N. v. Ovss et capros in agris pascebat. M. (Omnibus.) Ubi sine dubio habitat? Omnes. In hac caverna sine dubio habitat. M. Ita. Antrum etiam vocatur. OmnSs, In hoc antro sine dubio habitat. If* ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS M. (Ul) Monstra nautis signa Cyclopis calathos, ovllia, crate ras, lances. Ul. Ecce, spectate, nautae, calathos. M. Qua re plenos ? Ul. Caseo plenos, et bvllia. M. Quae animalia in ovilibus sunt ? Ul. Agni haedique. M. Compone sententias per relatlvum. Ul. Spectate agnos haedosque qui in ovilibus sunt. M. Bene. Aut spectate ovllia comple sententiam. Ul. In quibus agni haedique sunt et crateras et lances. M . Qua re plenas ? Ul. Lacte plenas. M. (N. vi.) Potestne haec omnia edere ? j^. vi. Ita : haec omnia edere potest. M. Nonne avidus est ? Compara eum cum marl. N, vi. Avidior est marl. M. Cur? N. vi. Quia haec omnia edere potest. M. (N. vii.) Quern etiam fortasse comedere cupiet ? N. vii. Me etiam fortasse comedere cupiet. M . Te solum ? N. vii. Nos omnes comedere cupiet. M. Die hoc domino tuo. N. vii. domine, omnes nos comedere cupiet. M.(N.viii.) Quid facere melius erit? manere an ad lltus redire ? N. viii. Ad lltus redire melius erit. M. Cras? N. viii. Minime ; statim. M . Ita, vel ' quam primum '. N. viii. Quam primum redire melius erit. M. (N. ix.) Tibine quoque id optimum videtur annon ? N. ix. Mihi quoque optimum videtur. ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS 103 M. Relinquetisne omnem caseum et agnos omnes haedosque ? N. iv. Minims ; auferemus multum caseum et agnos multos haedosque. M. Cur? N. ix. Quia eos edere volumus. M. Nonne habetis cibum doml ? N, ix. Sans : sed hie non satis cibl habemus. M. Fortasse cibus deerit antequam domum perve- neritis ? N.ix. Ita. Fortasse cibus deerit antequam domum pervenerimus. M. (Ul.) Visne tu redire? VI. Ita redire nolo. M. At Ullxes fortis est, nonvult iam redire. Ul. Nolo iam redire. M. Polyphemum dona rogare vult. Quid igitur facere melius erit ? Ul Manere melius erit Polyphemum dona rogandi causa. M. (N. x.) Qualis est Ulixes ? N. x. Nescio ; non explicare possum. M. Temerarius est. Vos omnes perlbitis. N. x. Temerarius est Ullxes ; nos omnes perlbimus. M. Ul. Iubste nautas cenam parare. Ul. Parate csnam, o nautae. M . Quando forte Polyphemus redibit ? Ul. Post cenam fortasse Polyphemus redibit. M, Respond per clausulam temporalem. Ul. Cum cenaverimus Polyphemus redibit. And so on. This process may appear somewhat long on paper, but in actual practice it is very rapid when done 104 ADDITIONAL FIRST YEAR LESSONS orally. As many of the new words as possible will have been used and explained in the story of the plot. But all boys present are expected to interrupt, if they do not understand, to help a character who is in difficulties, and to correct mistakes. The process is well rewarded by the interest aroused, the subsequent pleasure in reading and understanding the written play rapidly, and the facility with which it is committed to memory. Oxford : Horace Hart, M.A., Printer to the University I'XIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AUG K 19H Mi/^ AUG 27,,,. OCT 1 2 2002 JUL 31 us OCT 1 W 28^g'65V'C S&28B5 . : REC'D LD I SEP 21^5 -3F >M FEB 1 2 196$ 3 3 J9 '667 7RC0 30m-6,'14 U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES CDMS c J17S3fl UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY