Theclassics，andtheirpositionofprerogativeintheschemeofeducationtowhichthehigherseminariesoflearningclingwithsuchafondpredilection，servetoshapetheintellectualattitudeandlowertheeconomicefficiencyofthenewlearnedgeneration。Theydothisnotonlybyholdingupanarchaicidealofmanhood，butalsobythediscriminationwhichtheyinculcatewithrespecttothereputableandthedisreputableinknowledge。Thisresultisaccomplishedintwoways:1byinspiringanhabitualaversiontowhatismerelyuseful，ascontrastedwithwhatismerelyhonorificinlearning，andsoshapingthetastesofthenovicethathecomesingoodfaithtofindgratificationofhistastessolely，oralmostsolely，insuchexerciseoftheintellectasnormallyresultsinnoindustrialorsocialgain；and2byconsumingthelearner’stimeandeffortinacquiringknowledgewhichisofnouse，exceptinsofarasthislearninghasbyconventionbecomeincorporatedintothesumoflearningrequiredofthescholar，andhastherebyaffectedtheterminologyanddictionemployedintheusefulbranchesofknowledge。Exceptforthisterminologicaldifficulty——whichisitselfaconsequenceofthevogueoftheclassicsofthepast——aknowledgeoftheancientlanguages，forinstance，wouldhavenopracticalbearingforanyscientistoranyscholarnotengagedonworkprimarilyofalinguisticcharacter。Ofcourse，allthishasnothingtosayastotheculturalvalueoftheclassics，noristhereanyintentiontodisparagethedisciplineoftheclassicsorthebentwhichtheirstudygivestothestudent。Thatbentseemstobeofaneconomicallydisserviceablekind，butthisfact——somewhatnotoriousindeed——needdisturbnoonewhohasthegoodfortunetofindcomfortandstrengthintheclassicallore。Thefactthatclassicallearningactstoderangethelearner’sworkmanlikeattitudesshouldfalllightlyupontheapprehensionofthosewhoholdworkmanshipofsmallaccountincomparisonwiththecultivationofdecorousideals:IamfidesetpaxethonospudorquePriscusetneglectaredirevirtusAudet。
Owingtothecircumstancethatthisknowledgehasbecomepartoftheelementaryrequirementsinoursystemofeducation，theabilitytouseandtounderstandcertainofthedeadlanguagesofsouthernEuropeisnotonlygratifyingtothepersonwhofindsoccasiontoparadehisaccomplishmentsinthisrespect，buttheevidenceofsuchknowledgeservesatthesametimetorecommendanysavanttohisaudience，bothlayandlearned。Itiscurrentlyexpectedthatacertainnumberofyearsshallhavebeenspentinacquiringthissubstantiallyuselessinformation，anditsabsensecreatesapresumptionofhastyandprecariouslearning，aswellasofavulgarpracticalitythatisequallyobnoxioustotheconventionalstandardsofsoundscholarshipandintellectualforce。
Thecaseisanalogoustowhathappensinthepurchaseofanyarticleofconsumptionbyapurchaserwhoisnotanexpertjudgeofmaterialsorofworkmanship。Hemakeshisestimateofvalueofthearticlechieflyonthegroundoftheapparentexpensivenessofthefinishofthosedecorativepartsandfeatureswhichhavenoimmediaterelationtotheintrinsicusefulnessofthearticle；
thepresumptionbeingthatsomesortofill-definedproportionsubsistsbetweenthesubstantialvalueofanarticleandtheexpenseofadornmentaddedinordertosellit。Thepresumptionthattherecanordinarilybenosoundscholarshipwhereaknowledgeoftheclassicsandhumanitiesiswantingleadstoaconspicuouswasteoftimeandlaboronthepartofthegeneralbodyofstudentsinacquiringsuchknowledge。Theconventionalinsistenceonamodicumofconspicuouswasteasanincidentofallreputablescholarshiphasaffectedourcanonsoftasteandofserviceabilityinmattersofscholarshipinmuchthesamewayasthesameprinciplehasinfluencedourjudgmentoftheserviceabilityofmanufacturedgoods。
Itistrue，sinceconspicuousconsumptionhasgainedmoreandmoreonconspicuousleisureasameansofrepute，theacquisitionofthedeadlanguagesisnolongersoimperativearequirementasitoncewas，anditstalismanicvirtueasavoucherofscholarshiphassufferedaconcomitantimpairment。Butwhilethisistrue，itisalsotruethattheclassicshavescarcelylostinabsolutevalueasavoucherofscholasticrespectability，sinceforthispurposeitisonlynecessarythatthescholarshouldbeabletoputinevidencesomelearningwhichisconventionallyrecognizedasevidenceofwastedtime；andtheclassicslendthemselveswithgreatfacilitytothisuse。Indeed，therecanbelittledoubtthatitistheirutilityasevidenceofwastedtimeandeffort，andhenceofthepecuniarystrengthnecessaryinordertoaffordthiswaste，thathassecuredtotheclassicstheirpositionofprerogativeintheschemeofhigherlearning，andhasledtotheirbeingesteemedthemosthonorificofalllearning。Theyservethedecorativeendsofleisure-classlearningbetterthananyotherbodyofknowledge，andhencetheyareaneffectivemeansofreputability。
Inthisrespecttheclassicshaveuntillatelyhadscarcelyarival。TheystillhavenodangerousrivalonthecontinentofEurope，butlately，sincecollegeathleticshavewontheirwayintoarecognizedstandingasanaccreditedfieldofscholarlyaccomplishment，thislatterbranchoflearning——ifathleticsmaybefreelyclassedaslearning——hasbecomearivaloftheclassicsfortheprimacyinleisure-classeducationinAmericanandEnglishschools。Athleticshaveanobviousadvantageovertheclassicsforthepurposeofleisure-classlearning，sincesuccessasanathletepresumes，notonlywasteoftime，butalsowasteofmoney，aswellasthepossessionofcertainhighlyunindustrialarchaictraitsofcharacterandtemperament。IntheGermanuniversitiestheplaceofathleticsandGreek-letterfraternities，asaleisure-classscholarlyoccupation，hasinsomemeasurebeensuppliedbyaskilledandgradedinebrietyandaperfunctoryduelling。
Theleisureclassanditsstandardofvirtue——archaismandwaste——canscarcelyhavebeenconcernedintheintroductionoftheclassicsintotheschemeofthehigherlearning；butthetenaciousretentionoftheclassicsbythehigherschools，andthehighdegreeofreputabilitywhichstillattachestothem，arenodoubtduetotheirconformingsocloselytotherequirementsofarchaismandwaste。
“Classic“alwayscarriesthisconnotationofwastefulandarchaic，whetheritisusedtodenotethedeadlanguagesortheobsoleteorobsolescentformsofthoughtanddictioninthelivinglanguage，ortodenoteotheritemsofscholarlyactivityorapparatustowhichitisappliedwithlessaptness。SothearchaicidiomoftheEnglishlanguageisspokenofas“classic“
English。Itsuseisimperativeinallspeakingandwritinguponserioustopics，andafacileuseofitlendsdignitytoeventhemostcommonplaceandtrivialstringoftalk。ThenewestformofEnglishdictionisofcourseneverwritten；thesenseofthatleisure-classproprietywhichrequiresarchaisminspeechispresenteveninthemostilliterateorsensationalwritersinsufficientforcetopreventsuchalapse。Ontheotherhand，thehighestandmostconventionalizedstyleofarchaicdictionis——
quitecharacteristically——properlyemployedonlyincommunicationsbetweenananthropomorphicdivinityandhissubjects。Midwaybetweentheseextremesliestheeverydayspeechofleisure-classconversationandliterature。
Elegantdiction，whetherinwritingorspeaking，isaneffectivemeansofreputability。Itisofmomenttoknowwithsomeprecisionwhatisthedegreeofarchaismconventionallyrequiredinspeakingonanygiventopic。Usagediffersappreciablyfromthepulpittothemarket-place；thelatter，asmightbeexpected，admitstheuseofrelativelynewandeffectivewordsandturnsofexpression，evenbyfastidiouspersons。A
discriminativeavoidanceofneologismsishonorific，notonlybecauseitarguesthattimehasbeenwastedinacquiringtheobsolescenthabitofspeech，butalsoasshowingthatthespeakerhasfrominfancyhabituallyassociatedwithpersonswhohavebeenfamiliarwiththeobsolescentidiom。Ittherebygoestoshowhisleisure-classantecedents。Greatpurityofspeechispresumptiveevidenceofseverallivesspentinotherthanvulgarlyusefuloccupations；althoughitsevidenceisbynomeansentirelyconclusivetothispoint。
Asfelicitousaninstanceoffutileclassicismascanwellbefound，outsideoftheFarEast，istheconventionalspellingoftheEnglishlanguage。Abreachoftheproprietiesinspellingisextremelyannoyingandwilldiscreditanywriterintheeyesofallpersonswhoarepossessedofadevelopedsenseofthetrueandbeautiful。Englishorthographysatisfiesalltherequirementsofthecanonsofreputabilityunderthelawofconspicuouswaste。
Itisarchaic，cumbrous，andineffective；itsacquisitionconsumesmuchtimeandeffort；failuretoacquireitiseasyofdetection。Thereforeitisthefirstandreadiesttestofreputabilityinlearning，andconformitytoitsritualisindispensabletoablamelessscholasticlife。
Onthisheadofpurityofspeech，asatotherpointswhereaconventionalusagerestsonthecanonsofarchaismandwaste，thespokesmenfortheusageinstinctivelytakeanapologeticattitude。Itiscontended，insubstance，thatapunctilioususeofancientandaccreditedlocutionswillservetoconveythoughtmoreadequatelyandmorepreciselythanwouldbethestraightforwarduseofthelatestformofspokenEnglish；whereasitisnotoriousthattheideasoftodayareeffectivelyexpressedintheslangoftoday。Classicspeechhasthehonorificvirtueofdignity；itcommandsattentionandrespectasbeingtheaccreditedmethodofcommunicationundertheleisure-classschemeoflife，becauseitcarriesapointedsuggestionoftheindustrialexemptionofthespeaker。Theadvantageoftheaccreditedlocutionsliesintheirreputability；theyarereputablebecausetheyarecumbrousandoutofdate，andthereforearguewasteoftimeandexemptionfromtheuseandtheneedofdirectandforciblespeech。
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