typically Roman; and in its constructive literary form at least it is superior to the Greek. The Institutes consists of twelve books, from the first, second, and last of which the selections have been made. The first book relates to the elements of instruction under the teachers of grammar and of rhetoric, and to the nature of rhetoric itself; that is, to secondary and higher education. The great bulk of the work is a technical treatise on rhetoric itself as constituting the whole scope of secondary and higher education, the purpose of which was the production of the orator. Books III. to VII. inclusive are devoted to the study of invention; Books VIII. to XI. inclusive, to the discussion of elocution, including memory and pronunciation. The twelfth book is devoted to the consideration of the orator himself, "what his morals ought to be; what should be his practice in understanding, studying, and pleading causes; what should be his style of eloquence; what termination there should be to his pleading and what may be his employments after its termination." This work became the final and standard treatise on the theory and practice of Roman oratory, and is the most elaborate and complete treatise on Roman education ever written. The selections given include all passages that bear upon education in general, omitting such portions as have to do merely with the technique of grammar and rhetoric. General Character of the Educational Content of the Institutes. The general conception of education is the same as that of Cicero: the aim of education is to produce the orator. This term is of much wider significance than at the present day, being then identical with the cultivated man. Quintilian's definition of the orator is "the good man skilled in speaking." The Romans draw a definite contrast between the orator and the philosopher, the only rival of the orator as the type of the educated man. The philosopher cannot be the Roman ideal, for he is not interested in the practical affairs of life. He is not "the good man," however skilled in speaking he may be. Moreover, philosophers are rejected because they withdraw themselves from public occupations. It is by insisting upon this distinction that the Romans avoid the disintegrating effects of the individualizing tendencies of such a period in social and educational evolution as characterized the Greeks in a similar period. Another objection urged by Quintilian against making philosophy the aim of education is that philosophy could be simulated while eloquence could not. It is this breadth of view that gives to the teachings of Quintilian much of their educational significance. In contrast with the extremely technical and narrow discussions on rhetoric and the art of oratory which so abounded at this time, and on the other hand with the very general and individualistic views of the popular philosophies of the times, whether Stoic, Cynic, Epicurean, or Eclectic, was this very definite view of Quintilian that education is something which acts upon the whole intellectual and moral nature, and something the object of which is the production of the effective moral man in practical life. Such an education as that described by Quintilian is a formal institutionalized process; it is the work of instruction given in schools, preferably public schools. It is wholly different from the old Roman education. Yet this presupposition of his should be kept in mind: "It is to be stated, however, in the first place, that precepts and trea tises on art are of no avail without the assistance of nature; and these instructions, therefore, are not written for him to whom talent is wanting, any more than treatises on agriculture for barren ground." As with the Greeks, then, education depends upon the three factors, nature, training, and instruction. The treatise is almost wholly devoted to the last, with incidental reference to the second. The content of such an education was largely grammatical and rhetorical. Hence the larger part of this educational treatise has no longer vital interest, since the conception of education has changed so radically. But the general treatment is yet of interest, and the spirit is independent of either content or purpose, being that of a liberal education of any age. In addition to the grammatical and rhetorical training and instruction, a broad literary education is, according to Quintilian, essential. The tenth book of the Institutes, devoted to a discussion of the Greek and Latin literature, is a critique which has few equals. The spirit and the breadth of this aspect of education required by Quintilian is of the best. The grammatical and rhetorical instruction is to be supplemented by a brief study of music, astronomy, geometry, and philosophy. Such studies, however, are incidental, and are recommended because contributory to success as an orator. In the same manner the prospective orator must have a general knowledge of all subjects must be a well-informed, though not necessarily an erudite, man. Here, however, there is no approach to the Grecian conception of the value of music and the mathematical sciences in the development of the mind. In the first and second books, Quintilian deals in detail with the methods, subject-matter, and organization of elementary and secondary education. Many of his points of view are essentially modern. All are marked by the same judicious spirit. He would have the work of the school fitted to the disposition and ability of the child; he calls upon teachers to study the characteristics of their pupils; he opposes corporal punishment, and advises attractive rather than compulsory methods; he approves of education in public schools, rather than in the home a preference due largely to the moral corruption of the times, but also to the inability of the parent to rival the work of a successful teacher, even in the supervision and selection of tutors. Though Roman education after the time of Quintilian did not remain upon the high plane upon which he placed it, there was probably no marked decay for at least a century or even two centuries later. Some of the material presented bears upon this point. Both Pliny the Younger and Tacitus were pupils of Quintilian, and their testimony refers to about this time. The form, methods, and content of education remained about the same throughout the imperial period, or at least until the imperial interests were centred in the East. But in the spirit and purpose of education there was a marked and immediate decline. In fact, if we may accept the testimony of Tacitus, Quintilian was rather stemming the tide in this respect. The Institutes may be taken as descriptive of education throughout the imperial period so far as general aim, form, and method are concerned; and, in addition, as representative of the general conception and spirit of Hellenized education at its best. It forms the most thorough, systematic and scientific treatment of education to be found in classical literature, whether Greek or Roman. Selections from the Institutes of Oratory, by Quintilian1 BOOK I., CHAPTER I children. 1. Let a father, then, as soon as his son is born, con- General ceive, first of all, the best possible hopes of him; for he capacity of will thus grow the more solicitous about his improvement from the very beginning; since it is a complaint without foundation that "to very few people is granted the faculty of comprehending what is imparted to them, and that most, through dulness of understanding, lose their labour and their time." For, on the contrary, you will find the greater number of men both ready in conceiving and quick in learning; since such quickness is natural to man; and as birds are born to fly, horses to run, and wild beasts to show fierceness, so to us peculiarly belong activity and sagacity of understanding; whence the origin of the mind is thought to be from heaven. 2. But dull and unteachable persons are no more produced in the course of nature than are persons marked by monstrosity and deformities; such are certainly but few. It will be a proof of this assertion, that, among boys, good promise is shown in the far greater number; and, if it passes off in the progress of time, it is manifest that it was not natural ability, but care, that was wanting. 3. But one surpasses another, you will say, in ability. I grant that this is true; but only so far as to accomplish more or less; whereas there is no one who has not gained something by study. Let him who is convinced of this truth, bestow, as soon as he becomes a parent, the most vigilant possible care on cherishing the hopes of a future orator. 4. Before all things, let the talk of the child's nurses not be ungrammatical. Chrysippus wished them, if possible, to be women of some knowledge; at any rate he would have the best, as far as circumstances would allow, chosen. To their morals, doubtless, attention is first to be paid; but let them also speak with propriety. 1 These selections are made from the Watson translation of the Bohn Library Series, by special permission of Messers. Bell and Sons. 2 A Greek philosopher of the Stoic school who lived 282-206 B.C. A few fragments of his writings yet remain. Importance of early training by nurses, |