grammaticus, element in Latin. trivial and sterile, he offers to point out a few facts from which chap. V. they will perceive that it is of higher excellence than all other PART II. branches of knowledge. What does the name of grammarian' Functions of imply He quotes the passage in Suetonius', to shew that the the ancient grammarian with the Greeks was the litteratus of the Romans,that is, the man who, either orally or by his pen, professed to treat on any subject with discrimination, critical knowledge, and competent learning. Properly however those who expounded the poets were designated as grammatici; and what a range of acquirements such a function would involve, might be seen from Lucretius, Varro, and Empedocles. He reminds them how Aurelius Opilius voluntarily abandoned philosophy and rhetoric for grammar, and how Cicero, fresh from the prætorship, was found at the school of Gnipho; how liberally, at Rome, the grammar schools were encouraged and the professors remunerated. Again, the Greek very Latin alphabet was borrowed from the Greek; its k was the representation of the Greek κánа; the aspirate (h) so often found in Latin words, denoted a Greek origin; the reduplication in such words as poposci, totondi, momordi, was nothing else than the Tapakeiμevov of the Greek verb; many constructions in Cicero are to be explained by a reference to the Greek idiom. If we turn to etymology, the debt of Latin to Greek is found to be yet greater: Priscian, the most learned of the Latins, was chiefly a compiler from Apollonius and Herodian. With respect to rhetoric, it is needless to point out, how the use of metaphor, the frequent sententiousness of the proverb, and the exact force of words, receive their best illustration from a knowledge of Greek. As for A definition mathematics, it was notorious that no mathematician could detect in Euclid the grave error that had found its way into Euclid's definition of sense by a straight line, until the collation of a Greek codex exposed the of a Greek blunder. Boethius too compiled his Arithmetic from the Greek. Even music is indebted for its nomenclature to Greece; while as for medicine, the names of Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioscorides, are sufficient. restored to comparison codex. Greek to the The utility of Greek in connexion with the trivium and Utility of quadrivium having been thus vindicated, he passes on to theology. theologian. He begs in the first place that they will not consider him to be, like many men of his school (plerique meæ farinæ homines),—a foe to theological learning. He loves Mayronius, he admires He declares Erigena, he esteems Aquinas, and the subtlety of Duns Scotus foe to the he actually embraces; he only desiderates that culture which schoolmen. imparts brilliancy to all the rest. Let them only add to the study of these authors the cultivation of Greek and Latin literature, and learn to speak in such fashion that their diction may recall 1 See supra, p. 7, n. 2. 2 De mathematica istud dixisse sufficiat, priusquam bonorum diligentia Atticæ litteræ a tenebris essent vindicatæ, neminem ejus professionis virum a prodigioso indocti interpretis himself no CHAP. V. The use of words not arbitrary. the city and the youth of Rome! But, some one might say, PART II. the schoolmen spoke Latin. Latin! aye, but who of the orators or poets ever spoke as they did? No doubt those on whom polite learning had never smiled, saw no harm in a man using the phraseology that pleased him best. But what a gross absurdity was this! They laughed at the man who mingled Scotch or French with his native speech, while wishing themselves to be at liberty to import into Latin any barbarism they might think fit. For his own part, he had no wish to see the disputations in the schools abolished, but he did not like to see men growing old in them for subtleties like these were harmful, not to those who studied them only for a time, but to those who were conEvils result- tinually engaged in them. When the mind was thus exclusively cessive atten- concentrated on extremely minute distinctions its powers were wasted tion to logical and impaired, and the student was diverted from more useful learning, -from the Pauline Epistles, from the Evangelists, from the whole Bible: and these had a paramount claim on the theologian, whose true function it was, so to guide the minds of men as to draw them away from the things of earth and fix them on those above. The example of many of the fathers, like that of the great men at Rome, is next held up as a further incitement to classical studies; and a few additional considerations, derived from the importance of Greek to those engaged in historical researches, conclude the argument drawn from the abstract merits of the literature. ing from ex disputes. The Bible neglected. He implores them not to be out stripped by An appeal to the spirit of emulation holds a prominent place in his peroration. 'The Oxford men, whom up to the present time the Oxonians. ye have outstripped in every department of knowledge, are betaking themselves to Greek in good earnest. They watch by night, suffer heat and cold, and leave no stone unturned, to make this knowledge all their own. And if that should come to pass, there will be an end of your renown. They will erect a trophy from the spoils they have taken from you, which they will never suffer to be removed'. They number among their leaders the cardinals of Canterbury and Winchester, and in fact all the English bishops, Rochester and Ely alone excepted. The austere and holy Grocyn is on their side, the vast learning and critical acumen of Linacre, the eloquence of Tunstal, whose legal knowledge is equalled by his 1 Oxonienses, quos ante hac in omni scientiarum genere vicistis, ad litteras Græcas perfugere, vigilant, jejunant, sudant et algent; nihil non faciunt ut eas occupent. Quod si contingat, actum est de fama vestra. Erigent enim de vobis trophæum nunquam succubituri.' Croke's meaning appears to be that if Oxford once succeeds in gaining the reputation of being the school for Greek, students will get into the habit of going there to learn the lan guage; just as mathematicians, in the present day, generally prefer Cambridge. Compare with the words in italics, More's observation, addressed to the Oxonians, already quoted: Cantabrigia, cui vos prælucere semper consuevistis. Perhaps we may reconcile these diametrically opposed statements, made in the same year, by inferring that neither university had much real reason for priding itself on superiority to the other. ed to have his own uni skill in either tongue, the threefold linguistic learning of Stokes- CHAP. V. ley', the pure and polished elegance of More, the erudition and PART II. genius of Pace, commended by Erasmus himself, unsurpassed as a judge of learning,-Erasmus! once, would he were still, your own Greek professor! I have succeeded to his place. Good heavens ! how inferior to him in learning and in fame?! And yet, lest I should be looked upon as of no account whatever, permit me to state that even I, all unworthy though I be, have been recognised by the leading men, doctors in theology, law, and medicine, besides masters of arts beyond counting, as their acknowledged teacher; and what is more, have, in most honorable fashion, been escorted by them from the schools to church, and from church to the schools. Nay, still further, I solemnly assure you, gentlemen of Cambridge, that the Oxonians themselves have solicited me with the offer of a handsome salary besides my maintenance. But feelings of respectful loyalty towards this university Oxford want-and especially towards that most noble society of scholars, King's him, but he College, to which I owe my first acquirements in the art of felt bound to eloquence, have enjoiued that I should first offer my services to versity. you. Should those services find favour in your eyes, I shall esteem myself amply rewarded; and I shall conclude that such is the case, if I see you applying yourselves to the studies which I advise. To imitate what we admire,-such is the rule of life. And, in order that you may clearly perceive how much I have He promises your interests at heart, I shall make it especially my object, so to pupils to the adapt myself to each individual case, as to run with those who best of his run, and stretch out a helping hand to those who stumble. I shall adapt myself to the standard of each learner, and proceed only when he is able to keep me company. And if, perchance, there should be some to whom this learning may appear to be beset with toil, let them remember the adage, that the honorable is difficult. It is nature's law, that great undertakings should rarely be speedy Great things in their accomplishment, and that, as Fabius observes, the nobler not easily acraces in the animal world should be longest in the womb. Let them reflect too that nothing worth having in life is to be had without considerable labour. Wherefore, gentlemen of Cambridge, you must keep your vigils, and breathe the smoke of the lamp,practices which though painful at first become easier by habit. The name is printed Stopleius, and Wood (Annals, 1 17) has translated it as Stopley, without apparently having an idea who was meant. There can, however, be no doubt that Croke intended Stokesley, principal of Magdalen Hall, and afterwards bishop of London. Compare the encomium of Erasmus, Joannes Stokleius, præter scholasticam hanc theologiam, in qua nemini cedit, trium etiam linguarum haud vulgariter peritus.' Opera, 11 402. 2 Erasmus had heard of Croke's appointment, and wrote to congratulate him thereon, in the best possible spirit:- Gratulor tibi, mi Croce, professionem istam tam splendidam, non minus honorificam tibi quam frugiferam academiæ Cantabrigiensi, cujus commodis equidem pro veteris hospitii consuetudine peculiari quodam studio faveo.' Letter to Croke (April, 1518), Opera, ш 1679. Quintilian, x iii 4. to help his power. complished. superhuman difficulty. CHAP. V. Nerve yourselves, therefore, to courses such as these, and ere long PART II. you will exult in the realisation of the words of Aristotle, that the muses love to dwell in minds emulous of toil. But if some, after the manner of smatterers, should shirk the inevitable amount of effort,—or some again (which I hardly look for), of the theological or philosophical faculties, I mean those crotchety fellows, who seek to make themselves pass for authorities by heaping contempt on every one else, should dart back when they have scarcely crossed the threshold, it does not follow that you are, one and Greek not of all, to become despondent of this learning. Let each of you reflect that the mind of man has enabled him to traverse the seas, to know the movements and to count the number of the stars, to measure the whole globe. It cannot be, then, that a knowledge of Greek is inaccessible or even difficult to a race so potent to accomplish the ends it has in view. Do you suppose that Cato would have been willing to devote himself to this study when advanced in years, had it presented, in his eyes, much of difficulty?...A certain order however is necessary in all things. The wedded vine grasps first of all the lower branches of the tree, and finally towers above the topmost; and you, Sir, who now discourse so glibly in the schools, once blubbered over your book, and hesitated over the shapes of the letters. Therefore, gentlemen of Cambridge, bring your whole minds to bear upon this study, here concentrate your efforts. The variety of your studies need prove no impediment; for they who plead that excuse, forget that it is more laborious, by far, to toil over one thing No harm in long together, than over a variety of subjects. But the mind, forsooth, cannot safely be employed in many pursuits at once,why not then advise the husbandman not to cultivate, in the same season, ploughed lands, vineyards, olive-grounds, and orchards? Why not dissuade the minstrel from taxing, at once, his memory, his voice, and his muscles? But, in truth, there is no reason whatever why you should not come to me, when deaf with listening to other teachers, and give at least a share of your attention to Greek. Variety will pleasantly beguile you of your weariness; for who among you can have the audacity to plead the want of leisure? We should lack no time for learning, were we only to give to study the hours we waste in sleep, in sports, in play, in idle talk. Deduct from each of these but the veriest trifle, and you will have ample opportunity for acquiring Greek. A last appeal But if there be any who, after listening to my discourse, blush not per pride. to confess themselves blockheads and unteachable, let them be off to the desert and there herd with wild beasts! With beasts, did I say? They will be unworthy to associate even with these. For only the other day, there was an elephant exhibited in Germany who could trace, with his trunk and foot upon the sand, not only Greek letters but whole Greek sentences. Whoever then is so dense as to be unable to imbibe a modicum of Greek culture, let him know, that though more a man, he is in no way more a variety of studies. to their pro PART II. humane', as regards his educated faculties, than the dullest brute. CHAP. V. You see, gentlemen of Cambridge, there's no excuse for you,the capacity, the leisure, the preceptor, are all at your cominand. Yield not then to the promptings of indolence, but rather snatch the opportunity for acquirement. Otherwise, believe me, it will seem either that I have pleaded with you in vain to-day, or that you have been unmindful of the saying of Cato, Fronte capillata post hæc occasio calva. foregoing Stripped of its Latin garb, the foregoing oration will appear occasionally wanting in the gravity that becomes the academic chair; but those familiar with the licence often indulged in on like occasions, up to a much later period, will make due allowance for the fashion of the time. The age of Grote and Mommsen may smile at a Merits of the serious attempt to compare the merits of Numa and Ly- oration. curgus, or at the assemblage of names, mythical and historical, adduced to prove the estimation in which the Greek tongue was held in ancient times. Many of the audience, doubtless, stared and gasped, as the orator planted his standard at the line which, he declared, was the only true boundary of the grammarian's province in the realm of the Muses. Many a learned sententiarius, we may be well assured, listened with ill-disguised vexation at the claims set up in behalf of strictly biblical studies. But it was not easy to call in question the general reasonableness of the orator's arguments; and, at a time when the study of Greek is again on its defence, as an element in the ordinary course of study at our universities, it might not be uninteresting to compare the claims put forward three centuries and a half ago for its admission, with those which at the present day are urged on behalf of its retention. A comparison however.The oration more within the scope of the present pages may be found, if with that we proceed to contrast Croke's oration with the far better known address, entitled De Studiis Corrigendis, delivered by young Philip Melanchthon, before the university of Wittenberg, in the preceding year. Nor will the comparison be cundum quidem naturam editam magis humanum quam imperfectissima quæque animalia.' 1 Croke intends apparently a play upon the word humanus,- Quisquis igitur adeo hebes es, ut nihil Græcarum litterarum imbibere queas, scias te magis hominem esse, sed ne se 2 It may perhaps appear scarcely fair to compare the composition of a compared delivered by Melanchthon at Wittenberg, 1518. |