PREFACE.
The protracted struggle between science and the
classics appears to be drawing to a close, with victory
about to perch on the banner of science, as a perusal of
almost any university or college catalogue shows. While
a limited knowledge of both Greek and Latin is important
for the correct use of our own language, the amount till
recently required, in my judgment, has been absurdly out
of proportion to the intrinsic value of these branches,
or perhaps more correctly roots, of study. The classics
have been thoroughly and painfully threshed out, and it
seems impossible that anything new can be unearthed. We
may equal the performances of the past, but there is no
opportunity to surpass them or produce anything original.
Even the much-vaunted "mental training" argument is
beginning to pall; for would not anything equally
difficult give as good developing results, while by
learning a live matter we kill two birds with one stone?
There can be no question that there are many forces and
influences in Nature whose existence we as yet little
more than suspect. How much more interesting it would be
if, instead of reiterating our past achievements, the
magazines and literature of the period should devote
their consideration to what we do
not know! It is
only through investigation and research that inventions
come; we may not find what we are in search of, but may
discover something of perhaps greater moment. It is
probable that the principal glories of the future will be
found in as yet but little trodden paths, and as Prof.
Cortlandt justly says at the close of his history, "Next
to religion, we have most to hope from science."
