ected
against all schemes of education in which Latin held a prominent
position. At the moment when the university of Paris was, by the absence
of its rivals, placed in complete control of the education of France,
she found herself driven to defend the principles of classical education
against a crowd of assailants. All kinds of devices were suggested for
expediting the acquisition of Latin; grammar was to be set aside; Latin
was to be learned as a "living language"; much attention was to be
devoted to acquiring an extensive vocabulary; and, "to save time,"
composition was to be abolished. To facilitate the reading of Latin
texts, the favourite method was the use of interlinear translations,
originally proposed by Locke, first popularized in France by Dumarsais
(1722), and in constant vogue down to the time of the Revolution.

Early in the 18th century Rollin pleaded for the "utility of Greek,"
while he described that language as the heritage of the university of
Paris. In 1753 Berthier feared that in thirty years no one would be able
to read Greek. In 1768 Rolland declared that the university, which held
Greek in high honour, nevertheless had reason to lament that her
students learnt little of the language, and he traced this decline to
the fact that attendance at lectures had ceased to be compulsory. Greek,
however, was still recognized as part of the examination held for the
appointment of schoolmasters.

Eve of the Revolution.

During the 18th century, in Greek as well as in Latin, the general aim
was to reach the goal as rapidly as possible, even at the risk of
missing it altogether. On the eve of the Revolution, France was enjoying
the study of the institutions of Greece in the attractive pages of the
_Voyage du jeune Anacharsis_ (1789), but the study of Greek was menaced
even more than that of Latin. For fifty years before the Revolution
there was a distinct dissatisfaction with the routine of the schools. To
meet that dissatisfaction, the teachers had accepted new subjects of
study, had improved their methods, and had simplified the learning of
the dead languages. But even this was not enough. In the study of the
classics, as in other spheres, it was revolution rather than evolution
that was loudly demanded.

First Republic.

The Revolution was soon followed by the long-continued battle of the
"Programmes." Under the First Republic the schemes of Condorcet (April
1792) and J. Lakanal (February 1795