Bowdoin Orient, Vol. 4

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Excerpt from Bowdoin Orient, Vol. 4: May 6, 1874What, then, shall I say of the proficiency of the student? With regard to the Classical Course this is purely a supposition. 'no at tempt is made to test its truth. A successful examination in English Grammar is not one of the requisites to admission. In the Scientific Course some pretense of such an examination is made. But one need attend only a few recitations to see how insufficient it is, how utterly it has failed to exclude those ignorant of English Grammar. Here it is that the full measure of the evil first becomes apparent. Men who can give with ease all the parts of irregular Greek and German verbs, hesitate and blunder when asked to do the same in English. The Latin Subjunctive, with all its uses, is like an old acquaintance to some who are comparative strangers to our Potential. This is of such frequent occurrence that one of our professors once remarked that lie was tempted to discontinue the recitation and give a few lessons in English.I do not speak against the study of other languages, and I trust I fully appreciate the aid given by them to the understanding of our own. Broad generalizations and great laws can be deduced from wide observation and experience, that can be obtained in no other way. There is also a pleasure in trac ing out the analogy of language that imparts to our English studies, when we do pursue them, a zest which the illiterate can never know. But all this is merely subsidiary: it can never take the place of a thorough, syste matic drill in the first principles of English Grammar.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.