Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1867 edition. Excerpt: ... ON CLASSICAL AND UTILITARIAN STUDIES. READ BEFORE THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ART3 AND SCIENCES DECEMBER 20, 1866. During a few centuries past, the opinions of those who seek as well as of those who distribute knowledge have been divided between the relative claims of ancient and modern studies; by which are commonly meant those intellectual pursuits which preceded, and those which followed, the vacant period of the Middle Ages. As there is no good reason for believing that the bodily or mental vigor of the Caucasian race is different now from what it was two thousand years ago, our estimate of the relative inducements to study the productions of times so remote from each other must depend, not so much upon our deference to the especial genius that produced them, as upon the power of these works to contribute to our present pleasure and advantage. There are two points of view, in which the learning of past and present ages are usually contrasted by those who would estimate their comparative fitness as objects and vehicles of education. The first of these is the truth of the things taught by them, and the value of these things as means of human happiness and progress. The second is their more strictly educational bearing, or the efficacy of the things taught and of the language conveying them, viewed as means of developing and strengthening the mind in young persons. Both these considerations have had their weight in forming the grounds on which preference has been awarded at different times by different parties. The privilege of acquiring education, and of controlling the literature of their day, has, in some ages and countries, been confined to a few, whose character or position has placed exceptional advantages within their grasp. In other...
