ts, of which the first will more
suspiciously test his capacity to construe the books he professes
to have studied. I may return to this and to the alleged
_easiness_ of studies in a School of English. Let us proceed just
now with the reasoned plea for neglect.

These admirable old schoolmasters and dons would have hesitated,
maybe, to say flatly with Dogberry that 'to write and read comes
by nature ... and for your writing and reading, let that appear
when there is no need of such vanity.' But in practice their
system so worked, and in some of the Public Schools so works
to this day. Let me tell you that just before the war an
undergraduate came to me from the Sixth Form of one of the best
reputed among these great schools. He wished to learn to write.
He wished (poor fellow) to write me an essay, if I would set him
a subject. He had never written an essay at school. 'Indeed,'
said I, 'and there is no reason why you should, if by "essay" you
mean some little treatise about "Patriotism" or "A Day in the
Country." I will choose you no such subject nor any other upon
any book which you have never read. Tell me, what is your
Tripos?' He said 'the History Tripos.' 'Then,' said I, 'since
History provides quite a large number of themes, choose one and I
will try to correct your treatment of it, without offence to your
opinions or prejudice to your facts.' 'But,' he confessed, 'at
So-and-so'--naming the great Public School--'we never _wrote_ out
an account of anything, or set down our opinions on anything, to
be corrected. We just construed and did sums: And when he brought
me his first attempt, behold, it was so. He could not construct a
simple sentence, let alone putting two sentences together; while,
as for a paragraph, it lay beyond his farthest horizon. In short,
here was an instance ready to hand for any cheap writer engaged
to decry the old Classical Education.

What would the old schoolmasters plead in excuse? Why this, as I
suggest--'You cite an extreme instance. But, while granting
English Literature to be great, we would point out that an
overwhelming majority of our best writers have modelled their
prose and verse upon the Greek and Roman classics, either
directly or through tradition. Now we have our own language
_gratis,_ so to speak. Let us spend our pains, then, in acquiring
Latin and Greek, and the tradition. So shall we most intimately
enjoy our own authors; and so, if we wish to write, we shall have
at