The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 11, October, 1836Various
History
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. II., No. 11, October, 1836
Various
American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals
become an inseparable part and parcel of it. Those who would know the
nice and delicate shades of meaning belonging to English derived
terms, will ever betake themselves to the fountain-head for this
knowledge. What praise do we unwittingly bestow upon the two noble
tongues of antiquity, when we consider that the highest compliment we
can pay our illustrious characters is to compare them to some Greek or
Roman worthy—to say of a Washington he is a Fabius, of a {696}
Franklin he is a Socrates, of a Henry he is a Demosthenes!
[Footnote 1: Since this short article was penned, the number of words
of Greek and Latin derivation in it was roughly estimated to be eight
hundred, though the writer made an effort to use words purely English
in all cases where they would answer the purpose as well.]
The department of poetry would lose the most by a neglect of the
Classics. As the bards of antiquity were the first to walk forth into
the garden of poetry, they did not fail to appropriate to themselves
their most beautiful flowers; they, having the gathering of the
harvest, have left to the moderns in many branches of the poetic art
naught but the mere gleanings of the field. These ancient poems have
been so translated, paraphrased, metamorphosed by modern poets, that a
mere English scholar would find nearly as much difficulty in the works
of the latter, as in those of the former. A glance at one more
argument in favor of the learned languages, and this discussion is
closed. The history of the forum and halls of legislation proves that
in the actual conflict of mind against mind, the Classical orator has
a decided advantage over an antagonist who has merely an English
education, though in every other respect they be entirely equal. His
knowledge of the variety and flexibility of his own tongue, will place
at his command a greater copiousness of words, a wider range of
selection, a greater fluency and facility in the utterance of them
than his unfortunate antagonist can possibly pretend to.
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