The Art of Reading Latin:  How to Teach it

William Gardner Hale, professor of Latin in Cornell University
Boston:  Ginn & Co., 1887

Preface

The method of teaching herein advocated started, many years ago, from a desire to know Latin literature, and an impatience with the actual amount of reading power attained by a college course.  At the outset there existed a conviction that the modern mind could not be so degenerate as to be incapable of reading Latin as the Romans read it, that is to say, in the Roman order, in the Roman medium, and at a rate of speed which would not be intolerably slow in the reading of a modern tongue.  The nature of the aim dictated the method to be employed;  and the employment of the method proved the soundness of the original conviction.

The writer has for some years intended to publish an account of this method, as it has shaped itself in practical experience with successive classes.  First, however, he desired to present it orally before a number of gatherings of teachers.  As a beginning, accordingly, the address with the pamphlet opens was read before the Holiday Conference of the Associated Academic Principals of the State of New York, held in Syracuse in December last.  The interest with which the paper was received was so kindly, and the requests that it be published without further delay were so pressing, that it seemed best not to hold to the former intention.

William Gardner Hale, professeur de Latin à l'Université Cornell

Ginn & Co., Boston 1887

Préface

La méthode d'enseignement ici préconisée est née, il y a de nombreuses années, d'un désir de connaître la littérature latine, et du refus d'accepter le niveau de lecture atteint de facto dans l'enseignement supérieur. Le point de départ fut la conviction que l'esprit moderne ne pouvait être si dégénéré qu'il fût incapable de lire le latin comme le lisaient les Romains : dans l'ordre des mots romain, sur le support des Romains, et à une cadence qui ne fût pas d'une lenteur intolérable par rapport à celui de la lecture d'une langue vivante. La nature du but dicta la méthode à employer ; et l'emploi de la méthode prouva la solidité de la conviction initiale.

L'auteur projetait depuis quelques années de publier un bilan de cette méthode, telle qu'elle s'est elle-même façonnée dans une expérience pratique avec des classes successives. Mais auparavant, il souhaitait la présenter oralement devant une réunion de maîtres. En conséquence, devant la Conférence de Vacances de l'Association Académique des directeurs des études de l'Etat de New York, qui se tint à Syracuse en décembre dernier, fut lue, pour commencer, l'allocution liminaire de cette brochure. Cette communication fut reçue si favorablement, et les demandes qu'elle fût publiée sans plus de délai furent si pressantes, qu'il lui parut préférable de ne pas s'en tenir à son premier projet.

Though no explicit suggestions will be found in regard to the teaching of Greek, the substance of the method of course applies alike to either language.

I am under a debt to many of my students of recent years, whose support of the method, though it was taken up by them under the sore necessity of an entire revolution of confirmed mental habits, has supplied me with the confidence that comes from concrete results.  But I am under especial obligations to my sister, Miss Gertrude Elisabeth Hale, both for suggestions made earlier as a result of her own experience (the device mentioned on page 13 originated, so far as my own case goes, with her) and for a searching criticism of the proof of the present pamphlet, from the point of view of a preparatory teacher.

ITHACA, APRIL 18, 1887.

On n'y trouvera aucune suggestion explicite quant à l'enseignement du grec, mais, bien sûr, la substance de la méthode s'applique de la même manière à l'une et l'autre langue.

J'ai une dette particulière envers nombre de mes étudiants de ces dernières années qui, en soutenant cette méthode, et bien qu'il l'eussent adoptée avec la douloureuse nécessité d'un complet bouleversement d'habitudes mentales bien établies, m'ont insufflé la confiance que procurent les résultats concrets. Je suis cependant particulièrement obligé envers ma sœur, Mlle Gertrude Elisabeth Hale, à la fois pour ses suggestions faites dans les premiers temps et issues de sa propre expérience (le dispositif mentionné p. 13, vient, en ce qui me concerne, d'elle), et pour une critique attentive de la validité de la présente brochure aux yeux d'un professeur de classes préparatoires.

ITHACA, 18 AVRIL 1887.

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE ASSOCIATED ACADEMIC PRINCIPALS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, DECEMBER 28, 1886.
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The attacks which have been made of late upon the study of Greek and to some extent upon the study of Latin have had at their backs the conviction that the results obtained are very much out of proportion to the years of labor spent upon these languages by the schoolboy and the college student.  The danger which threatens classical study to-day in this country is due in large part to the fact that this conviction is a sound one.  If the case were different, if the average college graduate were really able to read ordinary Greek and Latin with speed and relish, the whole matter would be on a very different footing from that on which it now lamely stands.

COMMUNICATION PRONONCEE DEVANT L'ASSOCIATION ACADEMIQUE DES DIRECTEURS DES ETUDES DE L'ETAT DE NEW YORK LE 28 DECEMBRE 1886.
 

Les attaques qu'on lance depuis peu contre l'étude du grec, et dans une certaine mesure contre l'étude du latin ont leur origine dans la conviction que les résultats obtenus sont complètement dérisoires par rapport aux années de labeur passées sur ces langues par le collégien et l'étudiant. Le danger qui menace les études classiques aujourd'hui dans ce pays est dû en grande partie au fait que cette conviction est fondée. Si la situation était différente, si le diplômé moyen sortant de l'université savait vraiment lire à livre ouvert et en y trouvant du plaisir le grec et le latin courants, tout le problème reposerait sur des bases bien autrement fermes.

To learn to read Greek and Latin with speed and relish, and then, if one’s tastes turn towards literature or art of any kind, to proceed to do so;  to come to know familiarly and lovingly that great factor in the record of the thinking and feeling of the human race, the literatures of Greece and Rome, – that is an aim which we should all set before our students.  But, speaking generally, our students, yours and mine, do not come to love those literatures.  Perhaps they tolerate them, perhaps they respect them.  But to love them and to make them a substantial part of the intellectual life, – that is a thing which many a student, fitted therefor by natural taste and ability, fails to accomplish, and never so much as knows his loss.  This seems to me, looking at the long years of study given to Greek and Latin, and the great emphasis put upon them in the requirements for admission to our colleges, a very sad business.

Apprendre à lire le grec et le latin aisément et avec plaisir, et ensuite, si on commence à apprécier la littérature ou l'art sous quelque forme que ce soit, continuer cette pratique ; en arriver, familièrement et amoureusement, à connaître cet élément essentiel du développement de la pensée et du sentiment dans l'histoire de l'humanité que représentent les littératures de la Grèce et de Rome, voilà un but que nous devrions tous proposer à nos élèves. Mais, en général, nos élèves, les vôtres et les miens, n'en viennent pas à aimer ces littératures. Peut-être les tolèrent-ils, peut-être les respectent-ils. Mais les aimer, et en faire une part substantielle de leur vie intellectuelle, est une chose que bien des élèves, doués naturellement pour cela de par leur goût et leurs capacités, ne parviennent pas à accomplir, et sans même se rendre compte de ce qu'ils perdent. Cela me semble, lorsque je considère les longues années d'étude données au grec et au latin, et l'importance qu'on leur prête pour l'admission da ns nos universités, une bien triste affaire.

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Now the blame of it all must be divided among three parties, – the Greek and Latin languages themselves, the teachers in the preparatory schools, and the teachers in the universities.  The first of these guilty parties are out of our reach.  They are difficult languages;  but difficult languages they must remain.  That leaves the practical whole of the responsibility to be divided between the teachers in the preparatory schools and the teachers in the universities, or, to take concrete examples, for the purpose of our conference, between you and me. Which of us is the more to blame, I will not attempt to say.  But so much I will say, and from my sure observation:  that the influence upon the formation of intellectual character by the teachers who prepare young men for college is nearly ineffaceable.  The boy who comes to college with a thinking habit is capable of learning to read Latin (for I must now confine myself to that topic, though the whole substance of what I have to say applies with equal force to the teaching of Greek) with ease and speed;  the boy who comes without the habit has faults that a college course can rarely cure.  That the boy should be taught to think before he comes to college is, then, from the point of view of the study of Latin, the one indispensable thing.  That it is so from every other point of view as well, makes our case so much the stronger.

But one thing more is also indispensable sooner or later for a high success (and there is in Latin but one success), namely, that the method which the boy is taught to use in his thinking be the right one, – the result of the most careful observation of the practical difficulties to be overcome, and the most careful study of the best ways of overcoming them.

As we group these difficulties, placing them in the order in which they would be felt by a beginner, we find them to be: –
1.  The vocabulary.
2.  The system of inflections.
3.  The elaborate use of this system of inflections to express meaning, in place of our simpler modern methods of using prepositions, auxiliaries, and the like:  or, in a single word, syntax.

I suppose the beginner would think that these three difficulties covered the whole ground, and that if he had his vocabulary and his inflections secured, and understood what is called syntax, he could then read Latin with great ease.  But he would be very wrong.  The most formidable difficulty has not been mentioned.  The Latin sentence is constructed upon a plan entirely different from that of the English sentence.  Until that plan is just as familiar to the student as the English plan, until, for page after page, he takes in ideas as readily and naturally on the one plan as on the other, until, in short, a single steady reading of the sentence carries his mind through the very same development of thought that took place in the mind of the writer, he cannot read Latin otherwise than slowly and painfully.  So, then, an absolutely essential thing to a man who wants to read Latin is: –
4.  A perfect working familiarity with the Latin ways of constructing sentences.

Now we teach the first three things more or less effectively, – vocabulary, inflection, syntax.  Do we teach the last?

1. Le vocabulaire.
2. Le système flexionnel.
3. La manière complexe dont ce système flexionnel est utilisé en vue d' exprimer des idées en lieu et place de la simplicité de nos procédés modernes qui usent de prépositions, d'auxiliaires et du reste : en un mot, la syntaxe.

Je suppose que le débutant pensera que ces trois difficultés sont les seules, et qu'une fois le vocabulaire et la flexion assimilés, il pourra lire le latin avec une grande facilité. Erreur profonde. La difficulté la plus formidable n'a pas encore été mentionnée. La construction de la phrase latine différe totalement de celle de la phrase anglaise. Tant que cette construction ne sera pas aussi familière à l'étudiant que la construction anglaise, tant que, page après page, notre étudiant n'absorbera pas les idées aussi directement et aussi naturellement dans l'une des constructions que dans l'autre, bref, tant qu'une seule lecture de la phrase du premier mot au dernier ne mènera pas son esprit au long du même développement de pensée que celui qui s'est manifesté dans l'esprit de l'auteur, notre étudiant ne pourra lire le latin qu'avec lenteur et difficulté. Ainsi, voici ce qui est absolument indispensable à l'homme désireux de lire le latin :

4. Une familiarité jamais démentie avec les procédés de construction de la phrase latine.

Aujourd'hui, nous enseignons les trois premières difficultés plus ou moins efficacement, - vocabulaire, flexion, syntaxe. Enseignons-nous la dernière ?

I turn to the "First Latin Books," in order to find what is said to students at that most critical period in their study of the language, – the beginning.  I remember well how I was taught at Phillips Exeter Academy – of revered memory – to attack a Latin sentence.  "First find your verb, and translate it," said my teacher.  "Then find your subject, and translate it.  Then find the modifiers of the subject, then the modifiers of the verb,"  etc., etc.  Well, I had got more than four years beyond Exeter before I learned to read Latin with any feeling but that it was a singularly circuitous and perverted way of expressing ideas, which I could not expect to grasp until I had reformed my author’s sentences and reduced them to English.  Since my time, however, better ways may have come into vogue.  So I turn to the books of two scholarly gentlemen of my acquaintance, – practical teachers, too, – namely, Mr. Comstock, of Phillips Andover Academy, and Dr. Leighton, of the Brooklyn Latin School.   On page 233 of Mr. Comstock’s "First Latin Book," and pages 211 and 212 of Dr. Leighton’s "First Steps in Latin," I find distinct rules, essentially the same, for the operation in question.  The former begin as follows: –

Here is a new departure, an entire revolution since my day.  I was taught to find first the predicate.  A change so radical, a method so exactly the opposite of the old one, ought to lead to results the opposite of the old;  namely, to the power to read Latin easily instead of with difficulty.  So, with a cheerful heart, I take up a simple sentence in the fourth oration against Catiline, 3.5, and try my new method.

1. Dans chaque phrase simple, trouvez et traduisez
   1. Le sujet
   2. Le prédicat

Voilà un nouveau départ, une complète révolution par rapport à mon époque. Un changement si radical, une méthode si diamétralement opposée à l'ancienne, devrait conduire à des résultat à l'opposé de l'ancienne, à savoir: pouvoir lire le latin aisément, et non avec difficulté. Donc, le coeur gonflé de reconnaissance, je prends une phrase simple dans la quatrième Catilinaire, 3, 5, et j'essaie ma nouvelle méthode.

Haec omnia indices detulerunt.  I look for my subject.  Fortunately, it lies right at hand.  It is haec, nom. pl.  Next I translate it, these;  or, since it is neuter, these things.  Then I proceed to find the verb, which, again is obvious, viz., detulerunt, in 3d person pl., agreeing with the subject haec.  Perhaps I have caught from somewhere the happy idea of not looking words up in the dictionary until I have tried my hand at them.  So, very properly, I set out with the simplest meaning I can think of, viz., brought.  Now I am well started:  These things brought.  Next I look for the modifiers of the subject, and find omnia.  I build it on, and have now "all these things" for my subject, – all these things brought.  Next I look for the modifiers of the predicate, and I find indices, witnesses, acc. pl., object of the verb.  Everything is straight.  All these things brought the witnesses.  I pass on, and when I come to the class-room, and the teacher calls on me, I read out, All these things brought the witnesses, prepared to parse it to the last word, – only to be told that I am entirely wrong.¹

Now, a Roman boy of my age, and much less clever than I, if he could have smuggled himself into the senate that day, would have understood what those four words meant the instant Cicero uttered the last of them, detulerunt.  What is the difference between us?  Each of us, he and I, knew substantially the meaning of each word, each of us could inflect, each of us knew all the syntax required.  Yet I missed the idea, while he got it.  Wherein did he beat me?  Why, simply here:  I, following the direction of my teachers, first found my subject, and settled on haec.  The Roman boy did not know whether haec was subject or object.  He only knew it as haec.  I knew that detulerunt was the verb, and so did he when it arrived.  I knew that omnia agreed with the subject haec, while he only surmised that it belonged with haec, whatever that might prove to be.  I knew that indices was the object, while he only felt that indices was subject or object, and that it was the opposite of haec omnia (apposition being out of the question), being object if that should turn out to be subject, and subject if that should turn out to be object.  Then he heard detulerunt, and with that word everything dropped into place as simply as, in Milton’s sentence following,

the last word resolves our momentary suspense in regard to the relation of orb and artist;  which relation would have been precisely reversed, had we found such a word, e.g., as glads.

... la lune, dont l'orbe
A travers sa lentille l'artiste toscan voit,

le dernier mot résout notre interrogation momentanée au sujet de la relation entre orbe et artiste, relation qui aurait pu précisément être renversée si nous avions trouvé un mot comme, par exemple réjouit.

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Let us try the method further.  Mr. Comstock goes on (the italics are in part my own): –

But what is the order of their importance, and how am I to start?  With the connective, I presume.  We will suppose it to be ut.  But how shall I translate it?  There are some half-dozen or more "meanings":  in order to, so that, when, as, considering, although.  Which does it have here?  I cannot tell.  No more could a Roman.  But the difference is, that a Roman did not want to tell which one of its forces ut had here, but waited until something in the rest of the sentence, perhaps twenty, perhaps fifty, words away, informed him;  while I am bidden, so to speak, to toss up a cent, and start off upon a meaning, with the odds heavily against me;  possibly to find my mistake and go back and correct it, more probably to add error on error in order to "make sense," and so to get the whole thing into a hopeless muddle.

2. Dans une phrase coordonnée, traduisez chaque proposition indépendante comme s'il s'agissait d'une phrase simple. S'il y a des propositions subordonnées, traduisez-les dans l'ordre de leur importance. Une proposition subordonnée, ou proposition dépendante, est une proposition qui, tout comme en anglais, détermine l'un ou l'autre aspect de la proposition principale (comme expliqué au paragraphe 42 page 12). Une proposition introduite par un mot latin signifiant si, qui, que, parce que, depuis que, bien que, quand, après que, pendant que, etc. est dépendante : il faut la laisser de côté tant que l'on n'a pas trouvé le sens de la proposition principale.
3. Dans une phrase complexe, traduisez d'abord la proposition principale comme une phrase simple ; traduisez ensuite les propositions subordonnées selon les consignes données au point (b)

Mais quel est ce fameux ordre d'importance, et par où dois-je commencer ? Par le mot subordonnant, je présume. Supposons qu'il s'agisse d'un « ut ». Mais comment vais-je le traduire ? Le mot compte au moins une demi-douzaine de 'sens' : « afin de, si bien que, lorsque, comme, étant donné que, à supposer que [marquant une opposition] ». Quel sens a-t-il ici ? Je suis bien incapable de le dire. Un Romain en était tout aussi incapable. Mais la différence est qu'un Romain n'éprouvait nul besoin de dire quelle était ici la valeur de « ut » : il attendait que quelque chose dans le reste de la phrase, vingt ou cinquante mots plus loin, peu importe, lui permette de le savoir ; tandis qu'à moi, pour ainsi dire, on demande, de lancer une pièce en l'air et de choisir un sens quand les chances sont contre moi ; je trouverai peut-être mon erreur, et alors je reviendrai en arrière et je corrigerai, mais il est plus probable que je ferai erreur sur erreur en vue de 'trouver un sens', et qu'il n'en résultera finalement qu'un méli-mélo sans issue.

Now, all this is wrong.  It is a frightful source of confusion to prowl about here and there in the sentence in a self-blinded way that would seem pathetic to a Roman, looking at things without the side-lights afforded to him by the order;  and, further, it is a frightful waste of time.  Take a sentence such as often occurs, e.g., the opening of the third oration against Catiline, delivered before the people.  Imagine, now, two scenes:  on the one hand the Roman Forum, on Dec. 3, 63 BC, with a mass of men and boys listening to Cicero as he tells the story of the entangling of the conspirators remaining in Rome;  on the other, a modern schoolroom, say in the Syracuse High School (though I hope I am about to slander Dr. Bacon), Dec. 3, 1886 AD.  In the former case  Cicero has the floor, as we say;  in the latter case, Dr. Bacon’s assistant, book in hand, his pupils before him.  Both audiences want to get at the same thing, – what Cicero has to say.  In the first scene, Cicero proceeds: – Rem publicam, Quirites, vitamque omnium vestrum, bona, fortunas, coniuges liberosque vestros, atque hoc domicilium clarissimi imperi, fortunatissimam pulcherrimamque urbem, hodierno die deorum immortalium summo ergo vos amore, laboribus consiliis periculis meis, e flamma atque ferro ac paene ex faucibus fati ereptam et vobis conservatam ac restitutam videtis.

When he has said that, every soul that has heard him knows precisely what he means.  Now change to the Syracuse High School.  The teacher says, "first find your subject."  So we run on, scenting out a subject: –

Rem publicam, Quirites, vitamque omnium vestrum, bona, fortunas, coniuges liberosque vestros, atque hoc domicilium clarissimi imperi, fortunatissimam pulcherrimamque urbem, hodierno die deorum immortalium summo ergo vos amore, laboribus consiliis periculis meis, e flamma atque ferro ac paene ex faucibus fati ereptam et vobis conservatam ac restitutam videtis.

Well, we are through with the entire sentence, and there is no subject!  Of course, then, it is implied in the verb, and that is the 2d person pronoun, in the plural.  Next we find our verb.  That is, as it happens, the last word, videtis.  Then we go back, do we, and find the modifiers of the subject, and then the modifiers of the verb?  No, I say to all that.  We have already, if we have been rightly brought up, understood everything in that sentence by the time we reach the last syllable of it, without having thought meanwhile of a single English word;  and we are as ready in 1886 to go on immediately with the next sentence as we should have been if we had been Romans in the Roman Forum on that day in 63 BC.  Or, to put it another way, the boy who, reaching that oration in the course of his preparation for college, cannot understand that particular sentence, and a great many much more difficult sentences in the oration, from reading it straight through once in the Latin, nay, from merely hearing his teacher read it straight through once in the Latin, has been wrongly trained, is wasting time sadly, out of a human life all too short, and, so far from being on the direct way to read Latin with speed and relish, and then to proceed to do so, is on the direct way to drop it just as soon as the elective system of his particular college will allow, and, if he cares for literature, to go into some language in which it is not necessary, first to find the subject, and then the predicate, and then the modifiers of the subject, and then the modifiers of the predicate, and then to do the same thing for the subordinate sentence, or, if there are several subordinate sentences, to do the same thing for each one of them in the order of their importance, and then to put these tattered bits together into a patchwork.

Now, it will not do to say that students, by beginning in this way, get, quite early, beyond the need of it.  At any rate, I can testify, from my own experience, that, in spite of the admirable efforts of the schools in "sight-reading," they do not, when they come to Harvard or Cornell.  I allow myself in my class-room – keeping well inside of what is said to be customary among college professors – one jest a year.  When I first meet the new Freshman class (for I could not bear to leave such precious material wholly to the most perfect assistant), I question them:  "Suppose, now, you are set, as you were at the examination for admission the other day, to tell me the meaning of a sentence in a book you never say, – say an oration of Cicero, – how do you proceed to get at the writer’s meaning?"  There is at once a chorus of voices (for they are crammed for that question, having learned printed directions, as we have seen, in the first books they studied), "First find the – SUBJECT," three-quarters of them say;  "PREDICATE," the other quarter.  "Now here," I say to them, "is an unhappy difference of opinion about first principles in a matter of everyday practice, and of very serious importance.  Which is right?"  They do not know.  "Which do you suppose the Romans who heard the oration delivered in the Forum first hunted up, the subject or the predicate?"  That little jest, simple as it is, always meets with great success;  for it not only raises a laugh (of no value in itself), but it shows at once, even to a Freshman, the entire absurdity of trying to read Latin by a hunting-up first of either his subject or his predicate;  and so enlists his sympathy in favor of trying some other way, if any can be shown him.  But, at the same time, it proves to me that the method taught at the most critical of all periods, the beginning, is still wrong.  Only in late years, and very rarely, does some student answer my question with:  "First read the first Latin word without translating it, then the second, then the third, and so on to the end, taking in all the possible constructions of every word, while barring out at once the impossible, and, above all, erring, if anywhere, in the direction of keeping the mind in suspense unnecessarily long, waiting, at least, until a sure solution has been given by the sentence itself."

Yet this is the one method that should everywhere be rigorously used, from the day of the first lesson to the last piece of Latin that the college graduate reads to solace his old age.  Only, the process which at first is at every point conscious and slow, as it was not with the Romans, becomes, in Latin of ordinary difficulty, a process wholly unconscious and very rapid, precisely as it was with the Romans.  Just when the process would become easy for ordinarily simple Latin, if the training were right from the beginning, I cannot say.  In my own experience with college students, all whose habits have to be changed, I find a striking difference to be produced in a single term.  And at the end of two years, when the elective work begins, I now find it entirely practicable for the class to devote itself to the study of the Latin literature in the Latin alone, having nothing to do with version into English except at the examinations;  and I never had so good and so spirited translation, whether at sight or on the reading of the term, as last week, when, for the first time, I held such an examination at the end of a term spent without translation.

To bring the matter into a definite and practical shape, I can best indicate what it seems to me you ought to direct your teachers of Latin to do, mutatis mutandis, by telling you what I myself do from the time when I first meet my Freshmen to the end of the Sophomore year.After my little jest about the Romans hunting up first the subject and then the predicate as Cicero talked to them, or first the predicate and then the subject, whichever one thinks the Roman method may have been, I assure them that "what we have to do is to learn to understand a Roman sentence precisely as a Roman understood it as he heard it or read it, say in an oration, for example.  Now the Roman heard, or read, first the first word, then the second, then the third, and so on, through sentence after sentence, to the end of the oration, with no turning back, with no hunting around.  And in doing this he was so guided all the time, by indications of one kind or another in some way strown through each sentence, that, when the last word of that sentence had been spoken or read, the whole of the meaning had reached his mind.  The process of detecting these indications of meaning was to him a wholly unconscious one.  We moderns, however, of course cannot begin so far along.  What we are to reach finally is precisely this unconsciousness of processes;  but we shall be obliged, for the first few years, explicitly to study the indications, until we come to know them familiarly, one after another.  We must for some time think out, at every point, as the sentence progresses (and that without ever allowing ourselves to look ahead), all those conveyings of meaning, be they choice of word, or choice of order, or choice of case, or choice of mode, or choice of tense, or whatsoever else which at that point sufficed for the Roman mind.  And when these indications – which after all are not so many in number – have come to be so familiar to us that most of them are ready to flash before the mind without our deliberately summoning them, we shall be very near the point at which, in Latin graded to our growing powers, we shall interpret indications unconsciously.  And the moment we do that, we shall be reading Latin by the Roman’s own method."

I take up now – all books being closed – a sentence of very simple structure, of which every word and every construction are familiar, say a certain passage in Livy².   I tell the story of the context:  Two assassins have got admission, on the pretext of a quarrel to be decided, into the presence of Tarquin.  One of them diverts the attention of the king by telling his tale, and the other brings down an axe upon the king’s head;  whereupon they both rush for the door.

In order that the interpretation shall be done absolutely in the order in which a Roman would do it, without looking ahead, I write one word at a time upon the board (as I will again do upon the board before you), and ask questions as I go, as follows : –³ 

Tarquinium.  "What did Livy mean by putting that word at the beginning of the sentence?"  That the person mentioned in it is at this point of conspicuous importance.  "Where is Tarquinium made?"  In the accusative singular.  "What does that fact mean to your minds?"

Afin que la compréhension s'opère dans l'ordre exact où un Romain l'aurait acquise, soit sans rien regarder sinon la séquence déjà lue, je n'écris au tableau qu 'un seul mot à la fois (comme je vais le refaire devant vous), et je pose mes questions au fur et à mesure, comme ceci³ :

Tarquinium. « Quelle était l'idée de Tite-Live quand il a placé ce mot en début de phrase ? » - De mettre en évidence l'importance, à ce moment, de la personne désignée par ce nom. « Quel est le cas de Tarquinium ? » - Accusatif singulier. « Qu'est-ce que ce fait signifie pour vous ? »

Here most of them are somewhat dazed, not being used to that word meaning, the very word that ought constantly to be used in dealing with syntax, or so-called "parsing." So I very probably have to say, "May it mean the duration of time of the act with which it is connected?"  They say, No.  I ask, "Why not?"  Somebody says, Because the name of a person cannot indicate time.  I say, "Give me some words that might indicate time."  They give me dies, noctes, aetatem, etc.  Then I ask, "May it mean extent of space?"  They say, No, give me similar reasons for their answer, and, upon my asking for words that might indicate extent of space, they give me, perhaps, mille passuum, tres pedes, etc.  Then I ask, "May it indicate the extent of the action of the verb, the degree to which the action goes?"  They say, No, for a similar reason.  But when I ask for words that might mean the degree of the action, they commonly cannot tell me, for the reason that, strange to say, the grammars do not recognize such a usage;  though sentences like he walks a great deal every day (multum cottidie ambulat) are even more common than sentences like he walks three miles every day (cottidie tria milia passuum ambulat), and the accusatives mean essentially the same thing in both sentences.  Then I ask, "May it mean that in respect to which something is said, – as regards Tarquin, – the accusative of specification?"  To a question like that, I am sorry to say that a great many always answer yes, for students get very vague notions of the real uses of the accusative of specification.  Somebody, however, may be able to tell me that the name of a person is never used in the accusative of specification, and that in general the use of the accusative of specification, in the days of Cicero and Virgil, was mostly confined to poetry.  "What words were used in the accusative of specification in prose?"  Here I never get an answer, although the list is determinate, short, and important.  So I have to say, "I must add to your working knowledge a useful item;  write in your note-books as follows:  partem, vicem, genus with omne or a pronoun (quod, hoc, id), secus with virile or muliebre, hoc and id with aetatis, the relative quod and the interrogative quid, are used in Latin prose in all periods as accusatives of specification.  Here, then, is a bit of definite information which may enable you, when you first meet one of these words again (you will do so quite early in your first book of Livy), to walk without stumbling through a sentence where you would otherwise trip."  Then I go back to Tarquinium.  "May it be," I ask, "an accusative of exclamation?"  They say, Possibly so.  I say, "possibly yes, though in historical narration you would hardly expect such an exclamation from the historian."  Next I ask, "May it be a cognate accusative?"  To that they answer, No;  telling me, perhaps with some help, that the name of a person cannot be in any sense a restatement of an act, – cannot mean an activity.  "Well, then, what does this accusative case mean?"  By this time a good many are ready to say:  Object of a verb, or in apposition with the object.  But I ask if one thing more is possible, and some one says:  Subject of an infinitive.  "Yes," I answer;  "and one thing more yet?"  Predicate of an infinitive, someone suggests.

"Now," I ask, "what have we learned from all this?  Given the name of a person or persons in the accusative with no preposition, how many and what constructions are possible?"  All are ready now to answer, Object of a verb, or subject or predicate of an infinitive.  "Good," I say.  "Keep those possibilities always fresh in your mind, letting them flash through it the moment you see such a word;  and that having been done, WAIT, and NEVER DECIDE which of these possible meanings was in the mind of the Roman speaker or writer until the rest of the sentence has made the answer to that question perfectly clear.  Now tell me what constructions are possible for an accusative like hiemem."  They answer, duration of time, apposition, object of verb, subject or predicate of an infinitive.  "For an accusative like pedes?"  They answer, extent of space, apposition, object of verb, or subject or predicate of an infinitive.  "For an accusative like multum?"  Extent of action, apposition, object of verb, or subject or predicate of an infinitive.  "For an accusative like vitam?"  Cognate accusative, apposition, object of verb, or subject or predicate of an infinitive.  Now I ask, "Can any one tell me what constructions we may expect if the verb turns out to be some word like doceo or celo?"  They all give the answer, and therewith I have already passed in rapid review practically the whole matter of the accusative constructions;  and, what is more, – and this is vital, – I have done it from a very practical standpoint.  I have not asked a student to "parse" a word after seeing its full connection in the sentence (an exercise which loses four-fifths of its virtue by this misplacement), but I have demanded anticipatory parsing, – I have put my questions in such a way that my students have learned for all accusatives what instantaneous suggestions of the possible parts a word is playing in the sentence they may get, at first sight of the word, from the very nature of the word.

Then I pass on.  "We have our King Tarquin before our eyes, as the person on whom the interest of the sentence centres, and we know that he is the object of an action, or the subject or predicate of an infinitive action;  or, possibly, in apposition with such an object, subject, or predicate.  To proceed, the next word, moribundum, is what and where made?"  Adjective, nom. sing. neut., or acc. sing. masc. or neut.  Don’t smile at all this.  The habit of getting a young student to think all these things out, even where he could not go astray if they were not asked of him, saves many a getting lost in difficult places.  "What is probable about moribundum, as we have it in this particular sentence?"  That it belongs to Tarquinium.  "Right.  Now keep that picture in mind:  Tarquinium moribundum, the King, breathing his last, acted upon or acting.  Now for the next word:  Tarquinium moribundum cum.  What is cum?"  Some say, with perfect readiness, preposition, some say conjunction.⁴   "But," I answer, "if you are used to the right spelling, you know with an instant’s thought that no Roman that ever lived could tell at this point whether it was preposition or conjunction.  In order to tell, you must wait for – what?"  Ablative or verb, they answer.  Then we go on, "Tarquinium moribundum cum qui.  What does qui at once tell us about cum?"  Conjunction. "Right.  What do we know now, with almost absolute certainty, about Tarquinium?  What part of the sentence does it belong to?"  Here, I grieve to say, a chorus of voices always answers, Main verb;  for, in some mysterious way, students arrive at the universities without having learned that the Romans delighted to take out the most important word, or combination of words, from a subordinate introductory sentence, and put it at the very start, before the connective, – a bit of information worth a great deal for practical reading.  That habit of expression I now tell them, and then ask, "Given a sentence beginning with mors si, what do you know?"  That mors is the subject or predicate of the verb introduced by si.  "Given a sentence introduced by Hannibali victori cum ceteri?"  That Hannibali depends on something in the cum-sentence.

Now we go back to our sentence, and the word qui.  "What part of speech is it?"  Relative, they say.  "Or what else?"  I ask.  Interrogative.  "Where is it made?"  Nom. sing. or plur., masc. "If it is a relative, where in the sentence as a whole does its antecedent lie?"  They should answer, Inside the cum-clause.  The cum serves as the first of two brackets to include the qui-clause.  "If, on the other hand, it is an interrogative, what kind of a question is alone here possible?"  Indirect, and in the subjunctive, they answer.  "In that case, what kind of a meaning, speaking generally, must the verb introduced by cum have?"  It must be able to imply asking of some kind.  "Rightly said;  perhaps we may have such a sentence as, When everybody inquired who these men were – Cum qui essent omnes quaererent;  or perhaps we shall find that qui is relative.  The next word is circa, – Tarquinium moribundum cum qui circa.  What part of speech is it?"  Adverb.  "What then may it do?"  It may modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

We proceed:  Tarquinium moribundum cum qui circa erunt.  "What, now, about circa?"  It modifies erant.  "What was the number of qui?"  Plural.  "Was it relative or interrogative?"  Relative. "How do you know?"  Because erant is not subjunctive.  "Right.  Now qui circa erant is as good as a noun or a pronoun, – an indeclinable noun or pronoun, in the plural.  Think of it in that way, as we go on.  Tarquinium moribundum cum qui circa erant excepissent.  I don’t ask to-day the meaning of the mode of excepissent, because the world is in so much doubt about the question of the history and force of the cum-constructions.  But what was Livy’s meaning in writing the accusative Tarquinium?"  Object of excepissent.  "Yes, and what was the subject of excepissent?"  The antecedent of qui.  "Yes;  or, looking at the matter more generally, the subject was qui circa erant."

"Before going on, what picture have we before us?  What has the sentence thus far said?  This:  See Tarquin, dying!  See the bystanders!  See them pick him up!  Our curiosity is stimulated by the very order.  The next word is illos, – Tarquinium moribundum cum qui circa erant excepissent ...  What does the position of illos, first in the main sentence proper, tell us?"  That the people meant by it are of special prominence at this point.  "Who do you suppose these illos are, these more distant persons, thus set in emphatic balance against Tarquinium, each leading its clause?  The assassins, the whole class say.  "What do we know about Livy’s meaning from the case?"  Now they all answer in fine chorus and completeness, Apposition, object of main verb, or subject or predicate of an infinitive.

We proceed:  Tarquinium moribundum cum qui circa erant excepssent, illos fugientes ...  "What part of speech is fugientes?"  Participle.  "Which one?"  Present active.  "Then you see a running-away going on before your eyes.  What gender?"  Masc. or fem.  "What number?"  Plural.  "Then you see some two or more men or women running away.  What case?"  Nom. or acc.  "On the whole, do you feel sure you know the case?"  Yes;  accusative.  "Belonging to what?"  Illos.  "Why?"  Because of course the assassins, the illos, would run away.  "Yes," I say;  "but it cannot possibly mislead you to wait until there isn’t a shadow of a doubt.  We will go on:  Tarquinium moribundum cum qui circa erant excepssent, illos fugientes lictores ...  Here you have another set of people, the king’s body-guard.  In what case?"  Nom. or acc. plural.  "Which?"  They do not know.  "Well, then, can illos agree with lictores, if you consider forms alone?"  Yes.  "In that case, fugientes would have to go with illos lictores, wouldn’t it?"  Yes.  "But would the lictors run away?"  No.  "Would the assassins?"  Yes.  "Certainly.  Then fugientes does not belong with lictores, and does belong with illos;  and illos seems to be, just as we suspected at first sight of it, the assassins.  However, we must ask ourselves one more question, Is apposition possible between illos and lictores?"  No;  for they are very different people.  "Is any relation of a predicate possible between them?  Can the one be the predicate of an infinitive of which the other is the subject?"  No;  because, as before, they are very different people.  "Still it is possible that lictores is accusative.  If it is, it may be object, in which case illos is necessarily subject, for, as we have seen, they cannot be in apposition;  or, it may be subject, in which case, for the same reason, illos must be object.  In either case, they must be in direct opposition to each other, one of them (we don’t yet know which) being subject, the other, object;  while, if lictores is nom., you still have the same relation, only you know which is subject and which is object.  In any event, you see they are set over against each other, together making subject and object.  Now keep the results of this reasoning ready for the countless cases in which such combinations occur.  Given two nouns like bellum Saguntum:  what are the constructions?"  One is the subject of a verb, and the other the object, and we can’t yet tell which.  "Right.  Now I will give you a still more involved combination, but of a very commonly occurring kind, – quae nos materiem.  What do you make out of that?"  Some clever boy will say, Nos must be the subject of a verb, either finite or infinitive, and quae and materiem are object and predicate-object.  "Good.  Then what kind of meaning does the verb probably have?"  One of calling.  "Right.  The words are from Lucretius, and the verb he used was vocamus.  Treasure up that combination and the meaning of it."

"Now we go back to the assassins who are running away, and the king’s body-guard.  I will inform you that there is just one more word in the sentence.  What part of speech is it?"  Verb.  "Active or passive?"  Active.  "Right.  What does it tell?"  Tells what the lictors do to the assassins.  "What mode, then?"  Indicative.  "What two tenses are possible?"  The perfect and the historical present.  "Right.  Now the situation is a pretty dramatic one.  Which of these two tenses should you accordingly choose, if you were writing the story?"  The present.  "So did Livy.  Now tell me what you think the verb is."  Interficiunt, somebody says.  Capiunt, says another, hitting the idea but not the right word, which is comprehendunt, get hold of them well, – nab ’em;  or, as our tamer English phrase might put it, secure them.

"Now let us render into English the sentence as a whole, translating not merely Livy’s words, but the actual development of the thought in his mind.  Tarquinium, there’s Tarquin;  moribundum, he’s a dying man;  cum qui circa erant, you see the bystanders about to do something;  excepissent, they have caught and supported the king;  illos, you turn and look at the assassins;  fugientes, they are off on the run;  lictores, there are the king’s body-guard;  we hold our breath in suspense;  – comprehendunt, THEY’VE GOT ’EM!  So, then, that Latin order, which looks so perverted to one who is trained to pick the sentence to pieces and then patch it together again, gives us the very succession in which one would see the actual events;  weaves all the occurrences together into a compact whole, yet keeping everywhere the natural order;  while any order that we may be able to invent for a corresponding single sentence in English will twist and warp the natural order into a shape that would greatly astonish a Roman.""Finally, with the understanding and sense of the dramatic in the situation, which we have got by working the sentence out as Livy wrote it, compare the perversion of it, which we get by working it out correctly on the first-find-your-subject-of-the-main-sentence-and-then-your-predicate, etc., method:  the lictors secure the assassins as they run away, when those who were standing by had caught and supported the dying Tarquin.  The facts are all there, but the style, the soul, is gone."

Then I at once bring what we have learned to bear by giving a piece of blank paper to each student and starting out upon a new sentence, which shall involve what we have just seen, together with some fresh matter.  The questions are carefully studied and written out in advance, and the place of each is indicated to me, in my prepared manuscript, by a number attached to the Latin word concerned, as if for a foot-note.  As each question is put, the number is at once written down by each student and his answer written out.  Afterwards my assistant carefully goes through every paper, and with a colored paper marks every error, for my own guidance, and for the subsequent study, penitence, and profit of the writer.  The following is an example actually used, from Livy 21.53.  The answer that should be written is given with each question.

Hannibal¹ cum² quid^3456789 optimum^{10 11 12} foret¹³ hosti¹⁴ cerneret,^{15 16} vix¹⁷ ullam spem^{18 19} habebat²⁰ temere^{21 22} atque^{23 24} ---––––– ²⁵ ––––– ²⁶ consules^{27 28 29 30 31} –––––. ³²
1. Construction?
Subject of a verb, either subordinate or main.
2. Part of speech?
Preposition or conjunction.
3. Cum was what part of speech?
Conjunction.
4. Construction of Hannibal?
Subject or predicate nominative of verb introduced by cum.
5. Quid is what part of speech?
Interrogative.
6. Construction of the verb to which quid belongs?
Subjunctive of indirect question.
7. General nature of meaning of verb introduced by cum?
Some meaning that can imply a question.
8. Case of quid?
Nom. or acc. neut. sing.
9. Construction of quid?
Subject, predicate, or object of finite verb or infinitive;  or acc. of specification, the so-called adverb.
10. Case?
Nom. neut. sing., or acc. masc. or neut. sing.
11. Construction?
If neut., agreeing with subject or object of verb, or in predicate.  If masc., agreeing with object or verb, or with subject or predicate of an infinitive.
12. What constructions may follow to complete the meaning of optimum?
Dat. of the person for whom something is optimum, or abl. of that with respect to which something is optimum.  (It is worth while to have those two possibilities pat, for the great class of words of which optimum is a specimen.)
13. Where made?
Imperfect subjunctive. (Reason already given under 6.)
14. Construction?
Dative after optimum. (Reason given under 12.)
15. Where made, and introduced by what?
Imperfect subjunctive, introduced by cum.
16. Construction of Hannibal?
 Subject of cerneret.
17. Vix, hardly, has a negative feeling.  In such a connection, what would be the pronoun meaning any, and what the adjective?  (Probably nobody knows.)
Quisquam, ullus.
18. Construction?
Acc. sing., object of verb, or subject or predicate of infinitive.
19. Spes, just as much as spero, indicates a mental activity, and we shall probably find something else, completing its meaning, the object of the spes.  What will be the case (a) if the completing word is a noun
Objective genitive.
(b) if the completing word is a verb?
Objective genitive of gerund or of gerundive with noun, or future infinitive.
20. Subject is what?
A pronoun, repeating Hannibal.
21. Part of speech, and simplest meaning?
Adverb, meaning blindly.
22. Bearing in mind that, in the ordinary Roman habit, words were placed in anticipation of those which they modify, not after them, what do you feel about temere?
That it modifies the expected object of spem, which, consequently, is a verb.
23. Probably introduces what?
Another adverb, corresponding to temere.
24. Write an adverb to mean not looking ahead.
Improvide.
25. Write nom. or acc. neut. sing. meaning anything (in one word).
Quicquam.
26. In what case is that word here, and with what verb is it connected? Acc., connected with a verb, which verb must depend on spem.
27. Where made, without reference to context?
Nom. or acc. plur.
28. Where made, with reference to context?  and how do you know?
Acc., because habebat is sing.
29. Meaning of this accusative?
That consules is subject, object, or predicate of an infinitive.
30. Relation of quicquam and consules to each other?
One the object, the other the subject, of the infinitive.
31. Complete the sentence, using a verb meaning do.
Acturos, with or without esse.
32. Write, in the best English you have at your command, a translation of the sentence.

"Now," I go on to say to my students, "you are to commit this sentence to memory, and be ready to give it fluently in the Latin when we meet next.  And in the same way you will commit to memory every passage we so use in the year;  and at each term examination you will find yourselves called upon to write one of these passages, still from memory.  Further, and still more important than this, never again pick out your subject, your predicate, etc.;  but, in preparing your daily lessons, do just what we have been doing this morning, except that you are not to translate any sentence, or any part of any sentence, until you have gone through the whole lesson in the Latin, and got all the meaning in your power out of it.  I give you a short lesson, and I shall call upon one man and another to take up a sentence and go rapidly through it as Latin, word after word, as we have just now done, telling us precisely how it should be thought out.  In preparing your lesson, in order to be sure that your eye does not stray and run ahead, cut out a piece of flexible pasteboard, or, until you can get pasteboard, a piece of stiff writing-paper, as long as twice the width of your printed text, and two or three inches wide.  Cut a strip from the top, running along half the length, and deep enough to correspond to precisely one line of your text, including the space that belongs with it.⁵   Use this piece of paper in such a way as to expose just one word at a time, together with which, of course, will also be seen all the words preceding;  that is to say, as you think about one word after another, pushing your paper on, you will constantly see all of the sentence thus far traversed, without being able to look ahead."

[Zephyrus] Je continue et dis à mes élèves : « Maintenant, apprenez cette phrase par coeur, et tenez-vous prêts à la réciter en latin sans hésitation à notre prochain cours. De la même manière, toute l'année, vous mémoriserez ainsi chaque passage que nous étudierons. A chaque examen trimestriel, on pourra vous demander d'écrire, toujours de mémoire, un de ces passages. Je dirai même plus, et c'est encore plus important : ne picorez plus jamais sujet, verbe, etc.; mais chaque jour, quand vous préparez le cours, bornez-vous à ce que nous avons fait ce matin, sans traduire, ni phrase, ni fragment d’ aucune phrase, avant d’avoir terminé toute la leçon en latin, et en avoir tiré tout le sens que vous pouvez y trouver. Après une brève explication, j'appellerai un étudiant, puis un second, pour prendre une phrase et la parcourir rapidement comme si vous étiez vous-même Romain, mot après mot, à l'instar de ce que nous venons de faire, en nous précisant bien les réflexions que chacun de ces mots suggère. En préparant votre leçon, pour être sûr que votre oeil ne s'écarte pas et ne se déporte pas en avant, découpez une bande de carton souple, ou à défaut, provisoirement, du papier fort, deux fois long comme la largeur de votre texte imprimé, et large de quatre ou cinq centimètres. Sur le bord supérieur, découpez une bande sur la moitié de sa longueur, d'une largeur qui corresponde exactement à la hauteur d'une ligne de texte, en incluant l'espace qui la sépare de la suivante⁵. Pour utiliser cette feuille, ne découvrez qu'un mot à la fois, et en même temps, bien sûr, vous verrez tous les mots précédents, c'est à dire que, à mesure que vous réfléchirez sur les mots l'un après l'autre, vous déplacerez votre papier et aurez toujours sous les yeux toute la partie déjà lue de la phrase. »

At the next meeting, the class, thus prepared, recites as described, a number of students attempting to show precisely what mental processes one should go through in taking up the sentences of the lesson.  At the next but one, and thereafter throughout the Freshman year, all books being closed, the instructor reads the review lesson aloud, with all the effectiveness possible to him, one sentence at a time, calling for a translation of it from one and another student.⁶   As a preparation for this exercise, each student is urged to read the review aloud a number of times in his own room, doing his author as much justice as possible. At every exercise during the year, except the special weekly exercise, a number of sentences, prepared by the instructor, and based upon the text under reading at the time, are given out to students, to be written upon the board, in the English and in Latin, while the rest of the class are engaged upon translating the review as the instructor reads it;  and when the work upon the review is over, these Latin sentences upon the board are criticised by the class.  I touch upon a very serious defect in most of our preparatory schools when I say that from beginning to end there should never be a recitation in a foreign language without written or oral translation into that language.

For the special weekly exercise described above, there can be no considerable preparation beyond incessant faithfulness in the daily work.  The time thus left free is utilized in the preparation of a considerable piece of English based upon the Latin recently read.  (It will be seen that no textbook in composition is employed.)  The exercise handed in by each student is afterwards looked through, and returned to him at the next meeting of the class, with all errors marked.

The writing of the Latin sentence, one word at a time, upon the board in the special weekly exercise which has been described above, gives place in a few weeks to the corresponding dictation of one word at a time, to be written upon his paper by the student, the questions being, of course, given as before.  The exercise changes constantly in character by the dropping of questions with which the students have become familiar, and the bringing in of questions involving new principles.  Meanwhile, the examination of the papers written shows, from week to week, just where each student’s weakness lies.  In no long time all the constantly recurring constructions have become familiar as practical, working affairs.  Then (and this time properly comes somewhere near the end of the first third of the year) I cease entirely to have the Latin written, and give my passage (which may now be of respectable length) orally, still asking occasional questions for written answers, here and there, at points dangerous or otherwise instructive.  After the whole of the passage has been gone through in this way, it is taken up again, one sentence at a time, and a written translation is made by each student.  The passages are commonly selected from the book which the class is reading, and not very far in advance of the place reached in the other lessons of the week.  The attempt is always made to select a passage with a dramatic or otherwise striking close.  Each week, as already said, the whole of the exercise of the previous week is memorized, and repeated by several students, with great attention to the effective conveying of the meaning, by the throwing together, as in all spoken languages, of a number of words making a group in the sentence as a whole, by the careful balancing, in the delivery, of words clearly meant to be balanced, etc., etc.

L'écriture au tableau d'une phrase latine, un mot après l'autre, pendant l'exercice hebdomadaire spécial qui a été décrit plus haut, est remplacé quelques semaines après, suivant le même principe, par la dictée mot après mot, que l'étudiant doit écrire sur sa feuille, les questions étant, bien sûr, données comme auparavant. Le caractère de l'exercice évolue constamment, parce qu'on abandonne les questions avec lesquelles les étudiants se sont familiarisés, et qu'on en introduit d'autres impliquant des notions nouvelles. Ce faisant, l'examen des feuilles écrites montre, de semaine en semaine, quels sont les points faibles de chaque étudiant. En très peu de temps, toutes les constructions récurrentes ont acquis ce caractère de familiarité qui vient du maniement d'outils pratiques et fonctionnels. Ensuite (et cela se met convenablement en place à peu près vers la fin du premier trimestre), j'arrête complètement d'écrire le latin, et je propose mon passage (qui peut maintenant atteindre une longueur respectable) oralement, posant encore, à l'occasion, des questions dont la réponse doit être écrite, çà et là, à des endroits délicats, ou significatifs sous certains aspects. Lorsque tout le passage a été vu de cette manière, on le reprend, phrase par phrase, et une traduction écrite en est faite par chaque étudiant. Les passages sont choisis collectivement dans le livre que lit la classe, et pas très loin de l'endroit atteint lors des autres leçons de la semaine. On essaie toujours de choisir un passage dont la conclusion est théâtrale, ou frappante en quelque façon. Chaque semaine, comme on l'a déjà dit, la totalité de l'exercice de la semaine précédente est apprise par cœur, et récitée par plusieurs étudiants. Ils sont très attentifs à transmettre efficacement le sens, en prononçant ensemble, comme dans toutes les langues qu'on parle, les mots qui forment un groupe dans la phrase, en faisant soigneusement ressortir par la diction le parallélisme de mots qui sont évidemment mis en parallèle, etc., etc.

All this time each student is gaining a working knowledge of syntax regarded from the true standpoint for the first purposes of college work, namely, as a mechanism for conveying meaning from one mind to another;  is learning to bring that knowledge of syntax to bear at the most economical point;  is gaining familiarity with Roman tricks of order;  and is laying up a steadily growing vocabulary.⁷   And throughout, in order to keep constantly in sight the idea that the aim of the whole business is to learn to read Latin, occasional examinations in translation new passages from a text or printed paper are held during the term (as of course they should be upon any system), and at the end of each term the first exercise at the final exam is translation at hearing, the second exercise is translation at sight, the third exercise is translation at sight from English to Latin, the fourth is the writing of one of the passages memorized during the term;  and not until this is done does the student proceed to an exercise in translating and commenting upon passages read during the term.  Moreover, the greater part of the grammatical questions of the paper are set, not upon passages read during the term, but upon the passages given for the first time at the examinations;  namely, the passages to be translated at hearing and at sight.

In the second year,  the aim of gaining in power to read at sight is constantly held up before the students, and occasional written exercises in reading at sight are given through the term, while the first exercise set at the examination at the end of the term is always translation at sight.  A proper supplement to this is an elective in the speaking and writing of Latin.  In the second and third terms of the second year, which are now devoted to Horace, considerable quantities can be read, with a good deal of memorizing;  and the treatment can be made almost wholly literary.  That carries us through the Sophomore year, and to the beginning of the elective work, taken by Juniors and Seniors together.  Here translation at the daily lesson ends, except in those rare cases where the meaning of a difficult passage cannot be given by explaining the grammatical structure, or by turning the passage into some other form in Latin.⁸    Translations are written at occasional exercises held for that purpose during the term, and always make a part of the final examination, so that every student feels bound to understand his author.  But the students are urged not to have anything to do with English in preparation for their daily lessons or for the final examination, but to read the Latin as literature, with the utmost skill in rendering their author that they can acquire.

In all my teaching, two exercises stand out from the rest, as giving me special delight through the interest and mental activity of my students:  first, the exercises with the Freshmen, which I have described as carried on weekly by myself;  secondly, an exercise such as I carried on with an elective class recently, when, at the end of a term spent upon Plautus, I read a new play straight through in the Latin (the students following me in their texts), without translation, and with very little comment, moving at about the rate at which one would move if he were reading a new play of Shakespeare in a similar way;  and felt my audience responsive, even to the extent of occasional laughter that checked us for a moment, to nearly everything in our author that would have been intelligible, without special explanation, in an English translation.

Finally, if you ask me whether this method which I have been describing does not take a great deal of time, I shall answer that the amount of Latin read in the first term is much smaller than in the ordinary way, but that the power to read increases rapidly, and that the total quantity read in the first year is somewhat greater than on the common system, considerably greater in the second year, and in the elective years absolutely greater;  to say nothing of the much juster understanding of, and more intimate feeling for, his original, and the much keener delight in reading, gained by the student who pursues this method.  But there is one thing more to be said about this kind of work, this training of the student to read Latin rapidly. It is not the work of the universities at all.  In the universities, men should not learn how to read Latin, but should read it.  It should be my office, for instance, to make them acquainted with the body of the literature, to make them know it, at any rate, and love it, if possible.  But the office of preparing them to do this by training them to read ordinary Latin with ease and speed belongs to no college instructor, but to the schools of which you have charge.  I wholly believe that the application, from the very first day of reading a Roman sentence of one word, of the method here described, would, without adding a day to the length of time given to preparation for college, make a young student able, at the beginning of his Freshman year, to read Latin with more ease and speed than are my students at the end of it, – to say nothing of the greater pleasure which they would have in their work.  And I am not judging from my experience in university teaching alone;  for this very method of teaching has been used by students of my own upon young pupils, of varying ability, in preparation for college, and with results that fully confirm my belief.  Nor are the young pupils the only gainers.  The teacher himself will be surprised to see how much more pleasure he feels in his work;  and, if he keeps up his reading of the Latin literature, as all teachers of course endeavor to do, he will be surprised to find how his rate of speed will increase.  And the method itself will give him no trouble to learn;  for in the very act of preparing papers for examinations of this sort, or, at the worst, of conducting oral exercises without preparation, the teacher will very soon have taught himself the whole art.
 

To the preceding address – long, and yet too brief – I wish to add two things:  further specimens of papers actually employed by myself with a Freshman class, and suggestions for the application of the method in the preparatory schools.

At this point, I should advise the wearied reader, if he feels some confidence in the method, to lay the pamphlet aside and make experiment himself with a class, returning to the reading after he has come to feel an interest in further suggestions of detail.  As for the wearied reader that does not feel this confidence, he will readily lay the pamphlet down unadvised.

À ce discours – long, et pourtant trop bref – j'aimerais apporter deux ajouts : d'une part d'autres exemples de questionnaires que j'utilise en fait avec une classe de première année, et d'autre part des suggestions pour l'adaptation de ma méthode dans les lycées.

C'est le moment d'avertir le lecteur fatigué que s'il ressent quelque confiance en cette méthode, il peut mettre de côté cette brochure, pratiquer lui-même ses expériences avec une classe, et reprendre sa lecture s'il veut avoir des suggestions supplémentaires pour certains détails. Quant à celui qui, outre sa fatigue, n'a pas non plus confiance, il aura tôt fait d'abandonner cette brochure sans qu'on ait besoin de le lui conseiller.

In giving in this way details of the system on which my own work is conducted, I do not feel that I owe an apology.  One who proposes a method must have a very solid basis for his proposal.  This basis must be an experience of the efficacy of that which he is urging;  and this experience should be given with the greatest clearness and definiteness.  It is to be wished, indeed, that teachers of a given subject throughout the country, in colleges and schools, might regard themselves as forming one body with a common purpose, and that a constant interchange of experience and opinion might go on among them, alike in matters of investigation and matters of pedagogy.

It should be remembered that the papers printed below were used, early in the Freshman year, with students who had prepared for college upon the familiar and thoroughly un-Roman system.  If students were prepared upon the right method, not one in ten of the questions here indicaၴed would need to be asked, and the exercise of translating at hearing would be a rapid and attractive affair.

En donnant ainsi des détails sur le système sur lequel repose mon propre travail, je ne me sens pas tenu de requérir l'indulgence du lecteur. Lorsqu'on propose une méthode, on doit s'appuyer sur une base très solide. Cette base doit venir de l'expérience, et prouver l'efficacité de ce qu'on préconise; cette expérience doit être décrite avec la plus grande clarté et la plus grande précision. Il est souhaitable, évidemment, que les professeurs d'une discipline donnée, dans tout le pays, dans les universités et les lycées, se considèrent comme ne formant qu'un corps, visant but commun, et qu'un échange continuel d'expériences et d'opinions circule entre deux, aussi bien dans le domaine de la recherche que dans celui de la pédagogie.

On se souviendra que les questionnaires ci-dessous sont utilisés dès les débuts de la première année, avec des étudiants qui se sont préparés à l'enseignement supérieur selon un système familier, et complètement anti-latin. Si les étudiants étaient convenablement préparés, il n'y aurait pas une question sur dix qu'il vaudrait la peine de poser, et la traduction orale serait un jeu rapide et passionnant.

These papers were given to the Freshman class in succession, at intervals of a week, in the autumn of 1885;  at which time the work of the other recitations of the week was in Livy.  The constant aim – and the class were so informed – was to find for these papers, as given week after week, passages which would demand of them a practical power of handling constructions which had been discussed in the other exercises of the week, so that their progress should be one of constant acquisition without loss;  and it was promised them that in this way they should in a short time possess a ready and available familiarity with all the commonly recurring constructions of the language.  I further told them that, since I should not give them at these exercises in translation the meaning of any word which they had ever seen before, they had a very strong reason for laying up for themselves a vocabulary through securing in their memory every Latin word occurring in their daily work, and a very strong reason for paying extremely careful attention, both at and after the other recitations of the week, to any explanations of meaning of this or that word, alone, or in connection with others related to it in meaning (e.g. to alius, in connection with alter and ceteri), which might similarly be given to them at the ordinary recitations.  Nor was I content with this;  for, in order that there might be no escape, I prepared a partial syllabus of definable points emphasized in the work of the term;  and one of these was purchased, from the office that printed it, by each student in the class.

At the beginning of the term, the work of the advance lesson was largely done in the class-room, instructor and instructed working together.  It will be rightly inferred from this that the class moved slowly at the outset.  I am a devout believer in the reading of large quantities of the classics;  indeed, that is, in this present business, my particular and precise aim;  but I am also a believer in what is called "the long run," and "in the long run" only a soundly trained man gets very far.  In the preliminary training, it is necessary at first to take a good deal of time in probing to the quick, sometimes with considerable distress to the would-be athletes, a class of new students who have been carefully trained to distort and mangle the Latin sentence;  who have necessarily failed to acquire the alert and self-watchful habits of thought and of suspended judgment to which the received method, with its resulting impatience to "make sense," is practically strongly opposed;  whose knowledge of syntax is of a back-handed kind, good for very little except to "parse" with, more or less mechanically and ineffectually, after the whole sentence has been dug out, but worth nothing as yet for the current interpretation of the syntax of word after word in situ in the progress of the sentence;  and, finally, some of whom have been trained to pronounce Latin on the English method, others on the Continental, and others on one or another of that great variety of methods passing current under the general appellation of "Roman," and many of whom, accordingly, find it very difficult to understand a word of one syllable as pronounced by my assistant or myself, – to say nothing of a word of two syllables.

Up to the fourth week inclusive, the Latin was written upon the board at these weekly exercises, one word at a time, the questions being put, as indicated by the footnotes in the papers given below, at one point and another as the sentence progressed.  For several weeks after that time, the Latin sentence was written by each student, one word at a time, as pronounced by the instructor, the questions being set and answered as before.  After this, the writing of the Latin was forbidden, and the passages used were interpreted only as heard from the instructor’s reading.

Jusqu'à la quatrième semaine inclusivement, le latin était écrit au tableau lors de ces exercices hebdomadaires, un mot à la fois, les questions étaient posées, comme indiqué par les notes de bas de page dans les questionnaires donnés ci-dessous, sur certains points, à mesure que la phrase avançait.. Ensuite, pendant quelques semaines, chaque étudiant écrivait la phrase latine, un mot à la fois, sous la dictée du professeur, et les questions et réponses se faisaient comme auparavant. Dans un troisième temps, il était interdit d'écrire le latin, et les passages était traités uniquement à l'oral, à partir de la lecture du professeur.

At the first interview, the class had worked out, as it was put upon the board, one word at a time, the sentence in Livy I.1.5.

Ibi egressi Troiani, ut quibus ab immenso prope errore nihil praeter arma et naves superesset, cum praedam ex agris agerent, Latinus rex Aboriginesque, qui tum ea tenebant loca, ad arcendam vim advenarum armati ex urbe atque agris concurrunt.

As we reached the point ...ut quibus, they had made out, under questioning, that ut might be (1) a conjunction, in which case quibus could be (a) an interrogative introducing an indirect question depending on the ut-verb, or (b) a relative referring to something connected with the ut-verb;  or that, on the other hand, ut might be (2) an adverb, in which case the quibus-clause must be substantially an adjective modifying Troiani;  in other words, a characterizing clause.  In this connection, they had been told, for the sake of having the whole matter secured for their repertory of combinations of this kind, that what was essential in this latter case was the characterizing clause itself, and that in strictness no introductory word was necessary;  if one was used, however, it might be either ut, utpote, or quippe;  and it was also pointed out that, while there were three possibilities for a combination like ut quibus, there was only one possibility for a combination like utpote quibus or quippe quibus.

As we reached superesset, it was pointed out, against the practical habit of thought of nearly all the class, that, since in Latin the common practice was to put a modifying clause or phrase before the thing modified, the chances were that the quibus-clause, if it should turn out to be a characterizing clause, would bear, not upon egressi, but upon something which we were still to wait for.  (This something turned out to be cum ... agerent, – the natural thing for destitute men to do.)

As we reached ...cum praedam, at which stage it was sure that cum was a conjunction, the point was made, though again against the sentiments of the class, that Troiani was the subject of the verb introduced by cum, since the Romans were fond of taking out a conspicuous word or phrase belonging to an introductory temporal sentence, and putting it before the connective.⁹ 

En arrivant à superesset, on remarqua, malgré la méthode habituelle de réflexion de la quasi totalité de la classe, que, puisqu'en latin la pratique ordinaire était de placer un groupe ou une proposition avant le mot modifié, la meilleure probabilité était que la relative introduite par quibus, si elle s'avérait être une explicative, porterait non pas sur egressi, mais sur quelque chose qu'il fallait encore attendre. (Ce quelque chose se révéla être cum... agerent, — le comportement naturel, pour des hommes dépourvus de tout).

En arrivant à ...cum praedam, là, il était sûr que cum était une conjonction, et il était envisagé, bien qu'encore à l'encontre du sentiment de la classe, que Troiani était le sujet du verbe introduit par cum, puisque les Romains affectionnaient d'extraire un mot ou un groupe important appartenant à une proposition temporelle initiale, et de le rejeter avant le mot-outil⁹.

[Tanaquil has been urging upon Lucumo, who lives in Tarquinii, that he would have better hopes of rising in some new city, and points out that Rome has special advantages.]

Facile¹ persuadet²³ ut⁴⁵ cupido⁶⁷ honorum et⁸⁹ cui^{10 11} Tarquinii¹² materna^{13 14} tantum^{15 16} patria^{17 18 19} –––––;  sublatis²⁰ itaque rebus^{21 22} commigrant²³ ––––– ²⁴.

1. May be either of what possible parts of speech;  and where made?
Adj. in nom. or acc. neut. sing.;  or adverb.
2. In what way will the person who is persuaded, if there is one, be expressed?
By the dative.
3. In what way will that to which the person is persuaded be expressed, if it proves to be (a) a pronoun?  (b) a verbal idea?
(a) By the accusative.
(b) By the infinitive, if it is a statement of belief, etc.;  by a substantive purpose clause, if it be an act desired to be brought about.
4. The suspense about facile is now probably how resolved?
The writer meant it as adverb, modifying persuadet.
5. What constructions will probably follow ut, if it is meant (a) as conjunction?  (b) as adverb?
(a) A substantive purpose clause.
(b) A noun (appositive), adjective, or adjectival phrase, belonging to the personal subject or object of persuadet, and so nom. or dat.
6. May be either of what possible parts of speech, and, in either case, in what construction?
Noun, nom., subject of substantive final clause introduced by the conjunction ut;  or, adjective, dat., agreeing with personal object of persuadet and introduced by the adverb ut.
7. Does it call for anything to complete its meaning, and, if so, what?
An objective genitive.
8. What three uses has the word et?
(1) Connecting two words, = and;  (2) as the first of two ets = both ... and;  or (3) as bearing upon a single word, = also, even.
9. What uses may et have, in each case, in the present passage?
It may connect cupido, or honorum, to something yet to come;  or it may be the first of two balanced ets;  or it may emphasize a word or phrase to follow.
10. What is now the probable meaning of et, what its office, and what light does it throw upon cupido? Mark the quantity of the i in the last.
And;  connecting the cui-sentence to cupîdo, which is an adjective.
11. If this surmise is right, then what part of speech will the cui-sentence be equivalent to, and by what mode will this meaning be expressed?
An adjective;  expressed by the characterizing mode, the subjunctive.
12. Is name of town in nom. pl.?  What three possibilities of construction?
Subject, predicate, or in apposition with the one or the other.
13. Part of speech and possible cases?
Adjective, nom. sing. fem., abl. sing. fem., nom. or acc. neut. pl.
14. Meaning of its position before its noun?
That it is emphatic.
15. Possible parts of speech, and corresponding meanings?
Adjective, meaning so great, or adverb, meaning to such a degree, or to such a degree and no further, i.e. only.
16. In the last sense, what are its synonyms?
Solum and modo.
17. What part of speech was tantum, and what did it modify?
Adverb, modifying materna.
18. Probably construction of patria and of Tarquinii?
Tarquinii is probably subject of the cui-verb, and patria is its predicate.
19. Write the verb.
Esset.
20. Where made?
Participle, dat. or abl. pl.
21. Possible cases?
Dat. or abl.
22. Probable construction?
Ablative absolute with sublatis.
23. The place they go to is Rome.  Complete the sentence in two ways, using urbs in one, and Roma in the other.
Ad urbem;  Romam.
24. Translate the passage.

[Lucumon vit à Tarquinies. Tanaquil, sa femme, l'assure qu'il réaliserait plus facilement ses ambitions dans une autre cité : elle souligne les avantages certains que Rome présente à cet égard.]

Facile¹ persuadet²³ ut⁴⁵ cupido⁶⁷ honorum et⁸⁹ cui^{10 11} Tarquinii¹² materna^{13 14} tantum^{15 16} patria^{17 18 19} ––––– ; sublatis²⁰ itaque rebus^{21 22} commigrant²³ ––––– ²⁴.

1. Quelles sont les deux natures possibles ; analyse ?
Adj., N. ou Acc. neutre sg. ; sinon, adverbe.
2. Quel cas emploiera-t-on le cas échéant pour désigner la personne persuadée ?
Le datif.
3. Comment exprimera-t-on ce dont cette personne est persuadée s'il se révèle qu'il s'agit (a) d'un pronom ? (b) d'une idée verbale ?
(a) Au moyen de l'accusatif.
(b) Au moyen d'une infinitive en cas d'expression d'une croyance, etc. ; par une proposition complétive s'il est question d'une action à faire accomplir.
4. Comment se résoudra probablement l'incertitude concernant facile ? Pour l'auteur, c'est un adverbe qui modifie persuadet.
5. Quelles sont les constructions qui suivront le ut si ce dernier est employé en tant que (a) conjonction ? (b) adverbe ? (a) une proposition complément d'objet (b) un nom (en apposition), un adjectif ou une proposition relative déterminant le sujet au N. ou l'objet au D. de persuadet.
6. Quelles sont les deux natures possibles, et quelle est, dans chaque cas, la construction en cause ?
Substantif, N., sujet de la proposition finale introduite par la conjonction ut, ou adjectif, D., accordé avec l'objet de persuadet et introduit par l' adverbe ut.
7. Manque-il quelque chose pour former un sens complet et, si oui, que manque-t-il ?
Un génitif objectif.
8. Quels sont les trois rôles possibles du mot et ?
(1)Unir deux mots (= « et ») ; (2) annoncer un second et (« et... et... ») (3) portant sur un seul mot : « aussi, même ».
9. Quelle est, cas par cas, la fonction que le et pourrait remplir dans notre passage ?
Il pourrait unir cupido ou honorum à quelque chose qui suit, il pourrait annoncer un second et, ou encore mettre en relief un mot ou une phrase de la suite du texte.
10. Quel est à présent le sens attendu de et, quel est le rôle du mot et comment éclaire-t-il le sens de cupido ? Indiquez la quantité du i de ce dernier mot.
« Et », unit la relative introduite par cui à cupîdo, qui est un adjectif.
11. Si cette hypothèse est exacte, quelle est la nature du mot auquel équivaut la relative introduite par cui, et par quel mode ce sens se marque-t-il ?
Adjectif ; marqué par l'emploi caractéristique du subjonctif.
12. Le nom de ville est-il au N. pl. ? Quelles sont les trois fonctions possibles ?
Sujet, attribut ou apposition d'un sujet ou d'un attribut.
13. Nature et cas possibles ?
Adjectif, N. fém. sg., Abl. fém. sg., N. ou Acc. neutre pl.
14. Valeur de la place du mot s'il se trouve devant le substantif déterminé ?
On insiste sur le mot.
15. Natures possibles et sens correspondants ?
Adjectif signifiant « si grand » ; sinon adverbe signifiant soit « à un tel point », soit « à un point tel mais pas au-delà », c.-à-d. « seulement »
16. Quels sont les synonymes dans ce dernier sens ?
Solum et modo.
17. Quelle était la nature de tantum, et que modifiait-il ?
C'était un adverbe modifiant materna.
18. Fonctions probables de patria et de Tarquinii ?
Tarquinii est probablement le sujet du verbe de la relative et patria en est l'attribut.
19. Ecrivez le verbe.
Esset.
20. Analyse ?
Participe, D. ou Abl. pl.
21. Cas possibles ?
D. ou Abl.
22. Fonction probable ?
Forme avec sublatis un ablatif absolu.
23. Leur destination sera Rome. Complétez la phrase de deux manières, en utilisant urbs dans l'une et Roma dans l'autre.
Ad urbem. Romam.
24. Traduisez le passage.

[Romulus has enclosed a great space with his fortifications, and gathered a crowd of refugees into his new city.]

Iam res¹ Romana² adeo³ erat⁴⁵ valida, ut cuilibet⁶⁷ finitimarum⁸ civitatum bello^{9 10 11} par^{12 13} –––––;  sed penuria^{14 15} mulierum hominis aetatem¹⁶ duratura^{17 18} magnitudo^{19 20} –––––, quippe²¹ quibus^{22 23 24 25 26}  nec²⁷ domi²⁸ spes²⁹ prolis nec cum finitimis conubia³⁰ ––––– ³¹.

1. Possible cases?
Nom. sing., nom. or acc. pl.
2. Probable case and construction of res?
Nom., subject of main verb.
3. Commonest meaning of adeo?  and how must its meaning, if completed, be completed?
To such a degree;  by consecutive ut-sentence.
4. Meaning of the tense?
State of affairs at the point at which the story has reached.
5. What two parts of speech are capable of completing the sentence?
Adjective and participle.
6. Part of speech?  what other word is substantially equivalent?
Indefinite pronoun;  cuivis.
7. How are we to think of the meaning of case?
As some aspect of the indirect object.
8. Suggests the beginning of what construction?
Partitive genitive.
9. Possible cases and possible constructions?
Dative of some aspect of the indirect object, or ablative in some instrumental aspect.
10. Can cuilibet go with bello, and why?
No;  for the partitive genitive shows that cuilibet refers to a civitati.
11. Then is bello more likely to turn out to be a dative, or an ablative?
An ablative.
12. What suspense about Livy’s meaning is now resolved?
Cuilibet is the dative of the indirect object to which the quality of par is directed, and bello is the ablative of respect for par.
13. Write the predicate from sum.
Esset.
14. Possible cases?
Nom. or abl.
15. If the idea is completed, by what case?
Objective genitive.
16. Possible meanings of the case?
Duration of time, appositive, object of a verb, or subject or predicate of an infinitive.
17. Probable meaning of aetatem?
Duration of time.
18. What two possibilities for the government of duratura?
That it belongs (1) to penuria, or (2) to something not yet arrived.
19. What do we now feel about the case of penuria, and the meaning of that case?
That it is an ablative, expressing the cause of duratura.
20. Write predicate from sum, choosing the tense with care.
Erat.
21. Conceive of quippe as an adverb, meaning indeed, in fact.
22. What is the probably nature of the quibus-sentence, and what its construction?
Adjectival, i.e., a characterizing sentence in subjunctive.
23. What must be the underlying relation between the condition of affairs which we shall find expressed in the quibus-sentence, and the condition of affairs expressed in the main sentence?
Causal.
24. What is the antecedent of quibus?
The people to whom the magnitudo belonged, the inhabitants of the town.
25. Possible cases?
Dat. or abl.
26. Quibus indicates persons.  How does that narrow the possibilities of an ablative construction?
It can be only abl. absolute, or ablative dependent on a comparative or some word like fretus or contentus, or ablative of source with some word like genitus, ortus, natus.
27. What is sure about nec?
That it balances a later nec or et.
28. Construction?
Locative.
29. What must follow?
Objective genitive or future infinitive.
30. Complete the sentence by writing the proper form from the verb sum.
Essent.
31. Translate.
 

[Romulus a élevé des fortifications qui protègent un vaste espace et a rassemblé une foule de réfugiés dans sa nouvelle ville.]
Iam res¹ Romana² adeo³ erat⁴⁵ valida, ut cuilibet⁶⁷ finitimarum⁸ civitatum bello^{9 10 11} par^{12 13} –––––;  sed penuria^{14 15} mulierum hominis aetatem¹⁶ duratura^{17 18} magnitudo^{19 20} –––––, quippe²¹ quibus^{22 23 24 25 26}  nec²⁷ domi²⁸ spes²⁹ prolis nec cum finitimis conubia³⁰ ––––– ³¹.
1. Cas possibles ?
N. sg., N. ou Acc. pl.
2. Cas probable et fonction de res ?
N. sujet du verbe principal.
3. Sens ordinaire de adeo ? Dans ce sens, qu'annonce-t-il éventuellement ?
« A un point tel » ; une consécutive introduite par ut.
4. Signification du temps ?
Il décrit l'état de choses auquel on en est arrivé à ce moment du récit.
5. Quelle est la nature des deux catégories de mots pouvant conclure la phrase ?
Un adjectif ou un participe.
6. Nature ? Citez l'autre mot dont le sens est essentiellement équivalent ?
Pronom indéfini. Cuivis.
7. Que nous indique la valeur du cas ?
Que nous avons affaire à une forme de complément d'objet indirect.
8. Valeur du cas de l'expression ici amorcée ?
Génitif partitif.
9. Cas et fonctions possibles ?
Datif marquant l'une ou l'autre forme d'objet indirect, ou ablatif dans un emploi relevant de l'ablatif d'instrument.
10. Cuilibet peut-il être accordé à bello et pourquoi ?
Non, car le génitif partitif montre que cuilibet s'accorde avec civitati.
11. Dans ces conditions, quel sera vraisemblablement le cas de bello en définitive, le datif ou l'ablatif ?
Ce sera un ablatif.
12. Une incertitude quant au sens voulu par Tite-Live est à présent levée : laquelle ?
Cuilibet est le datif de l'objet indirect auquel on assigne la qualité exprimée par le mot par, et bello est l'ablatif de point de vue dépendant de par.
13. Ecrivez la forme convenable de sum.
Esset.
14. Cas possibles ?
N. ou Abl.
15. Quel est le cas nécessaire pour compléter l'idée ?
Le génitif objectif.
16. Valeurs possibles du cas ?
Complément marquant une durée, apposition, objet direct d'un verbe, sujet ou attribut dans une infinitive.
17. Sens probable de aetatem ? « Durée ».
18. Quelles sont les deux dépendances possibles de duratura ?
Il détermine (1) penuria (2) un mot de la suite du texte.
19. Que devons-nous à présent penser du cas de penuria et de la valeur de ce cas ?
C'est un ablatif de cause qui dépend de duratura.
20. Indiquez la forme convenable de sum, en choisissant le temps avec soin.
Erat.
21. Interprétez quippe comme un adverbe signifiant en fait, en effet.
22. Quelle est la nature probable de la relative introduite par quibus, et quelle est sa valeur dans la phrase ?
Elle a la valeur d'un adjectif, c'est une proposition explicative au subjonctif.
23. Quelle doit être la relation sous-jacente qui existe entre l'état de choses exprimé dans la relative et celui qui est exprimé dans la proposition principale ?
Une relation de cause à effet.
24. Que désigne l'antécédent de quibus ?
Il désigne les gens qui possédaient la magnitudo, les habitants de la ville.
25. Cas possibles ?
D. ou Abl.
26. Quibus désigne des personnes. En quoi cela réduit-il les possibilités d' avoir ici un emploi de l'ablatif ?
Il ne peut s'agir que d'un ablatif absolu, un ablatif dépendant d'un comparatif ou d'un mot comme fretus ou contentus, ou un ablatif marquant l' origine après genitus, ortus, natus.
27. Quelle certitude avons-nous en ce qui concerne le nec ?
Il annonce un futur nec ou un futur et.
28. Valeur de la forme ?
C'est un locatif.
29. Quelle est la suite attendue ?
Un génitif objectif ou un infinitif futur.
30. Complétez la phrase en indiquant la forme convenable du verbe sum.
Essent.
31. Traduisez.

[The Alban and Roman kings have proposed that the war between the two peoples shall be settled by a battle between the Horatii and Curiatii.]

Nihil recusatur.  Tempus et locus convenit.  Priusquam¹² dimicarent, foedus ictum³ inter Romanos et Albanos est his⁴⁵ legibus⁶, ut cuius⁷⁸ populi cives⁹ eo certamine vicissent¹⁰ is alteri^{11 12} populo cum bona pace¹³ ––––– ¹⁴.

1. What ideas may one have in mind when he writes antequam or priusquam, and by what mode will these ideas be respectively expressed?
He may mean to give the idea of an act anticipated – i.e., looked forward to from the time of the act of the main clause – by some person mentioned in that sentence;  and he will express this by the idea-mode, the subjunctive.  Or he may mean to state the actual occurrence of an event, as a boundary point beyond which the main event took place;  and he will express this by the fact-mode, the indicative.
2. In the light of the situation, which of the two ideas is it more probable that Livy is going to express?
The former.
3. Is anything sure yet about the case of foedus, or the part of speech of ictum?
No.
4. What should be kept in mind as possibilities for all demonstrative pronominal words, like is, hic, ille, ita, etc.?
That they look backward to something already mentioned, or forward to something which is yet to be mentioned.
5. Which is the case here?
The latter.
6. What construction do you think is coming?
A substantive final clause, telling what the his legibus were.
7. In general, what have we found to be the two possibilities when one meets the combination of ut and the relative?
Either (1) that ut is the conjunction, and the qui-clause looks forward to an antecedent to be given later in the ut-clause;  or (2) that ut is the adverb, the qui looking backward, and the relative statement forming a characterizing clause which stands in a causal relation to the main clause.
8. Bearing in mind his legibus, which of the two possible meanings of the combination ut cuius do you suppose to have been in Livy’s mind in this particular case?
The former.
9. Probable meaning of case of populi?
Possessive, depending on cives.
10. Meaning of tense?
Future perfect from a past point of view.
11. Probable nature of combination?
Subject and indirect object.
12. Differs how in meaning from alius?
Refers to the one other out of two, while alius means another out of any number.
13. Surmise, if possible, what the final verb is;  and at any rate tell where it must be made.
Imperfect subjunctive;  imperaret (imperaret is likely to be written rather than Livy’s frequentative imperitaret;  but the word is admissible).
14. Translate.
 

[Le roi d'Albe et le roi de Rome ont proposé que la guerre entre leurs deux peuples se règle par un combat entre les Horaces et les Curiaces]

Nihil recusatur.  Tempus et locus convenit.  Priusquam¹² dimicarent, foedus ictum³ inter Romanos et Albanos est his⁴⁵ legibus⁶, ut cuius⁷⁸ populi cives⁹ eo certamine vicissent¹⁰ is alteri^{11 12} populo cum bona pace¹³ ––––– ¹⁴.

1. Quelles sont les notions que l'on peut avoir l'intention d'exprimer en écrivant antequam ou priusquam ? Par l'emploi de quel mode cela se traduira-t-il ?
On peut avoir l'intention de présenter une action que quelqu'un a prévenue - c.-à-d. une action à laquelle un personnage mentionné dans la phrase a réagi par anticipation au moment où s'est passée l'action principale ; on exprimera cela au moyen du subjonctif, mode du style indirect. On peut également avoir l'intention d'énoncer la manifestation d'un événement pour en faire le point de repère en deçà duquel a pris place l'action principale ; on exprimera cela à l'indicatif, mode de l'énonciation.
2. Au vu de la situation, laquelle de ces deux notions Tite-Live va-t-il plus probablement exprimer ?
La première.
3. Avons-nous une quelconque certitude quant au cas de foedus et à la nature de ictum ?
Non.
4. Quelles les possibilités devons-nous garder à l'esprit quand nous rencontrons un démonstratif tel que is, hic, ille, ita, etc. ?
Ils rappellent ce qui a été dit ou annoncent ce qui va suivre.
5. A quelle possibilité avons-nous affaire ici ?
A la seconde possibilité.
6. A votre avis, quelle est la construction qui va suivre ?
Une proposition finale développant his legibus.
7. D'une manière générale, d'après notre expérience, quelles sont les deux possibilités qui s'offrent quand nous rencontrons un ut suivi d'un relatif ?
(1) Ou bien le ut est une conjonction et la relative dépend d'un antécédent placé plus loin dans la proposition introduite par le ut, (2) ou bien le ut est un adverbe, l'antécédent se tire de ce qui précède le relatif et la relative est explicative, marquant une cause de l'action principale.
8. En tenant compte de his legibus, laquelle des deux significations possibles de la combinaison ut cuius Tite-Live avait-il à l'esprit, selon vous, dans le présent passage ?
La première.
9. Valeur probable du cas de populi ?
Marque la possession après cives.
10. Valeur du temps ?
Transpose dans le passé un futur antérieur du style direct.
11. « is alteri » : détermination réciproque des fonctions probables ?
Sujet (is) et objet indirect (alteri).
12. Différence de sens par rapport à alius ?
Désigne l'un ou l'autre de deux éléments, tandis qu'alius désigne « un autre élément » pris un nombre quelconque de ces éléments.
13. Conjecturez, si possible, ce que sera le verbe de la proposition finale ; donnez, en tout cas, l'analyse de la forme attendue.
Imparfait du subjonctif ; imperaret (l'étudiant indiquera vraisemblablement imperaret au lieu du fréquentatif imperitaret de Tite-Live, mais la réponse est admissible).
14. Traduisez

[The year following the defeat at the Trasumene lake.  Dissatisfaction with the policy of Fabius.  The people have carried the election of one consul, Varro, the nobility of the other, Aemilius Paullus.  The two are about to march out for the summer campaign.]

Contiones¹ priusquam² ab urbe signa moverentur³ consulis⁴ Varronis multae ac feroces fuere, denuntiantis⁵⁶ bellum⁷⁸⁹ arcessitum¹⁰ in¹¹ Italiam ab nobilibus mansurumque¹² in¹³ visceribus reipublicae, si¹⁴ plures Fabios imperatores haberet, se¹⁵ quo die¹⁶ hostem vidisset¹⁷ perfecturum.^{18 19}

1. Possible meanings?
Meeting, and speech made before a meeting.
2. What meanings may follow, and by what constructions indicated?
Action anticipated at the time of the main act, expressed by the subjunctive;  or actual event, back of which the main act lies, expressed by the indicative.
3. What was the special shade of meaning in priusquam ... moverentur?
That the contiones were held, or made, in anticipation of the expected marching.
4. What is it now clear that contiones means?
Means speech, language.
5. Belongs with what?
Consulis.
6. Denuntiare means to make an announcement.  How will the object be expressed if it is
    (a) a noun or pronoun?     (b) a verb, conveying a statement of fact?     (c) a verb, conveying action desired?
(a) Accusative.
(b) Infinitive.
(c) Substantive final clause.
7. What construction occurs to you at once for bellum?
Object of denuntiare.
8. Is there any certainty that this is what Livy meant?
No.
9. What else may Livy have in mind?
A subject or an object for an infinitive depending on denuntiantis.
10. What possibilities for arcessitum?
Participle agreeing with bellum, or part of an infinitive perfect (with esse to come) or future (with iri to come) having bellum for its subject.
11. What case do you expect to find following, and why?
Accusative, because arcessitum includes the idea of motion.
12. What is the only thing that you know surely about mansurum?
That its construction is the same as that of arcessitum.
13. What case do you expect to find following, and why?
Ablative, because mansurum includes the idea of rest.
14. What indication have you of the probable nature of the condition, and how will it be expressed?
It looks as if it were the condition for mansurum.  In that case it will be a future or future perfect from the past standpoint, expressed by the so-called imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive.
15. Probable construction of bellum and arcessitum, and grounds of your opinion?
Se is acc. or abl.  It cannot be abl. absolute, since it refers to the subject of the sentence;  and it is probably not the ablative of source, for we are not likely to find a word meaning born of here.  It is therefore probably accusative.  In that case, bellum is either the subject or object of an active infinitive which we are to have, and of which se is object or subject.  Arcessitum, which is passive, is therefore not an infinitive, but a participle;  and, besides that, mansurum, which is in the same construction with arcessitum, is not transitive.
16. Where is the antecedent of quo die, and what do you know about it?
Yet to come, and in some way connected with the coming infinitive which we have found to depend on denuntiantis.
17. Meaning of tense and mood?
Future perfect from past point of view, in indirect discourse.
18. What suspended constructions are now resolved?
Perfecturum is infinitive, se is its subject, bellum its object, with attached participles arcessitum and mansurum, the latter having a future condition dependent upon it.
19. Translate.
 

[L'année qui suivit la défaite du lac Trasimène. Impopularité de la politique de Fabius. Le peuple a soutenu l'élection d'un consul, Varron, la noblesse celle de l'autre, Aemilius Paullus. L'un et l'autres vont partir pour les campagnes d'été.]

Contiones¹ priusquam² ab urbe signa moverentur³ consulis⁴ Varronis multae ac feroces fuere, denuntiantis⁵⁶ bellum⁷⁸⁹ arcessitum¹⁰ in¹¹ Italiam ab nobilibus mansurumque¹² in¹³ visceribus reipublicae, si¹⁴ plures Fabios imperatores haberet, se¹⁵ quo die¹⁶ hostem vidisset¹⁷ perfecturum.^{18 19}

1. Sens possibles ?
Assemblée, et discours prononcé pendant une assemblée.
2. Quels sens peuvent suivre, et signalés par quelles constructions ?
Une action antérieure à l'action principale, exprimée au subjonctif, ou une action réelle, sur laquelle repose l'action principale, exprimée à l'indicatif.
3. Quelle était la principale nuance de sens dans priusquam... moverentur ?
Que les contiones furent réunies, ou prononcées, antérieurement au départ en campagne attendu.
4. Quel est maintenant le sens certain de contiones ?
Il signifie discours, parole.
5. s'accorde avec quoi ?
Consulis.
6. Denuntiare signifie annoncer. Commen le complément d'objet sera-t-il exprimé s'il est (a) un nom ou un pronom ? (b) un verbe, indiquant un état de faits ? (c) un verbe, indiquant une action souhaitée ?
(a) l'accusatif.
(b) l'infinitif.
(c) une proposition finale.
7. A quelle fonction pensez-vous ?
Au complément d'objet de denuntiare.
8. Y a-t-il un moyen de s'assurer que c'est ce qu'a voulu dire Tite-Live ?
Non.
9. Quelle autre intention Tite-Live peut-il avoir ?
Le sujet ou un complément d'objet d'une infinitive dépendant de denuntiantis.
10. Possibilités pour arcessitum ?
Participe accordé avec bellum, ou participe d'un infinitif parfait (esse doit suivre) ou futur (iri doit suivre) dont le sujet serait bellum.
11. Quel cas vous attendez-vous à trouver ensuite, et pourquoi ?
Accusatif, parce que arcessitum inclut une idée de déplacement.
12. Que peut-on dire de sûr au sujet de mansurum ?
Que sa construction est la même que celle de arcessitum.
13. Quel cas vous attendez-vous à trouver ensuite, et pourquoi ?
L'ablatif, parce que mansurum inclut l'idée d'immobilité.
14. Quelle indication avez-vous de la nature probable de cette condition, et comment sera-t-elle exprimée ?
Elle paraît être la condition de mansurum. Si c'est le cas, elle sera au futur ou au futur dans le passé par rapport au moment de l'action rapportée, exprimée par le temps qu'on nomme imparfait, ou plus-que-parfait du subjonctif.
15. Construction probable de bellum et de arcessitum ? argumentez votre réponse.
Se est un acc. ou un abl, puisqu'il représente le sujet de la phrase ; et il n'est sans doute pas l'ablatif de provenance, puisque nous avons peu de chance de trouver ici un mot signifiant naître. C'est donc probablement un accusatif. bellum est donc soit le sujet, soit l'objet d'un infinitif actif que nous devrons attendre, et dont se est l'objet ou le sujet. Arcessitum, qui est passif, n'est donc pas un infinitif, mais un participe ; et, de plus, mansurum, qui est construit comme arcessitum, n'est pas transitif.
16. Où est l'antécédent de quo die, et que savez-vous de lui ?
Encore à venir, et en quelque sorte lié avec l'infinitif qui est annoncé, et que nous savons dépendre de denuntiantis.
17. Sens de ces temps et mode ?
Perfecturum est à l'infinitif, se est son sujet, bellum en est l'objet, avec ses participes épithète arcessitum et mansurum. Une proposition de condition à l'éventuel dépend de ce dernier mot.
19. Traduisez.

[The passage here used was employed in the address.  It is given again in its place among the present set of papers, partly to show that the minute questioning with which a teacher of an untrained Freshman class must begin may give place early to a more rapid movement, after the habit of watchfulness and a willingness to hold the mind in suspense have been established.]

Hannibal cum quid¹ optimum foret hoste cerneret, vix² ullam spem³ habebat temere⁴⁵ atque improvide⁶ ––––– consules⁷⁸ –––––;  cum alterius ingenium, fama⁹ prius deinde re¹⁰ cognitum, percitum ac ferox sciret¹¹ –––––, ferociusque factum prospero cum praedatoribus¹² suis certamine crederet, adesse gerendae rei fortunam haud diffidebat.¹³

1. What must be the construction of the verb of the quid-sentence, and why?
Subjunctive of indirect question of fact, or of indirect deliberative question.
2. In such a connection, what would be the pronoun meaning any, and what the adjective?
Quisquam, ullus.
3. What would be the completing construction (a) if nominal?¹⁰   (b) if verbal?
(a) Genitive.
(b) Genitive of gerund or of gerundive, or future infinitive.
4. Does temere, judging by the order, probably modify habebat, or something yet to come?
The latter.
5. Then what do you surmise about the completing construction for spem?
That it is a verbal construction.
6. Write the neuter pronoun meaning anything, in nom. or acc. form.
Quicquam.
7. General construction hereby indicated, and construction of consules and of the word you have just written?
The verbal for spem is an infinitive, with quicquam for subject and consules for object, or vice versa.
8. Write the infinitive, meaning to do.
Acturos.
9. Case?
Nom. or abl.
10. Case of fama, and proof.
Abl., because the phrase prius deinde makes it parallel with re.
11. Write verb required to complete the clause.
Esse.
12. What is indicated by a combination like prospero cum praedatoribus?
That cum connects with praedatoribus a noun, yet to come, to which prospero belongs.
13. Translate.
 

[Ce passage a été utilisé dans le discours. Il est repris ici à la place qu'il occupe dans cet ensemble de questionnaires, en partie pour montrer que le questionnement minutieux que doit employer au début le professeur d'une classe de première année sans expérience, peut vite laisser place à un mouvement plus rapide, lorsque sont installées l'habitude d'observation et la capacité de tenir son esprit en suspens.]
Hannibal cum quid¹ optimum foret hoste cerneret, vix² ullam spem³ habebat temere⁴⁵ atque improvide⁶ ––––– consules⁷⁸ –––––;  cum alterius ingenium, fama⁹ prius deinde re¹⁰ cognitum, percitum ac ferox sciret¹¹ –––––, ferociusque factum prospero cum praedatoribus¹² suis certamine crederet, adesse gerendae rei fortunam haud diffidebat.¹³

1. Quelle doit être la forme du verbe de la proposition introduite par quid, et pourquoi ?
Le subjonctif de l'interrogation indirecte, ou le subjonctif délibératif.
2. Dans une telle situation, quel serait le pronom signifiant "une chose quelconque", et l'adjectif signifiant "quelque" ?
Quisquam, ullus.
3. Quelle construction (a) nominale ¹⁰ (b) verbale devrait compléter ce mot ?
(a) un génitif.
(b) le génitif d'un adjectif verbal ou d'un gérondif, ou un infinitif futur.
4. D'après sa place, temere modifie-t-il plutôt habebat, ou autre chose qui n'est pas encore lu ?
Autre chose qui n'est pas encore lu.
5. Dans ce cas, que prévoyez-vous sur la forme qui complètera spem ?
C'est une forme verbale.
6. Ecrivez le pronom neutre signifiant une chose quelconque au nom. ou à l'acc.
Quicquam.
7. Construction générale annoncée ici, construction de consules, et du mot que vous venez d'écrire.
Le verbe qui dépend de spem est un infinitif, dont quicquam est le sujet et consules le complément d'objet, ou vice versa.
8. Ecrivez l'infinitif, signifiant faire
Acturos
9 Son cas ?
Nom. ou abl.
10 Cas de fama, et preuve.
Abl., parce que le groupe prius deinde le met en parallèle avec re.
11. Ecrivez le verbe nécessaire pour compléter la proposition.
Esse.
12. Que révèle une combinaison comme prospero cum praedatoribus ?
Que cum subordonne praedatoribus à un nom, qui reste à lire, dont dépend prospero.
13. Traduisez.

Adversus¹ ea² oratio³ consulis haud sane laeta fuit, magis fatentis⁴ ea⁵ quae diceret vera quam facilia⁶ ––––– ⁷ –––––:  dictatori magistrum⁸⁹ equitum intolerabilem fuisse;  quid^{10 11} consuli adversus collegam seditissum ac temerarium verium atque auctoritatis¹² –––––? ¹³
1. What part of speech is adversus?
Participle or preposition.
2. What is possible for ea?
Object of preposition adversus, or agreeing with an abl. sing. or acc. pl.
3. What do you know now about adversus and ea, and how?
Oratio is nom. fem., so that adversus is not participle, but preposition, ea being its object.
4. Construction to follow (a) if nominal?  (b) if verbal?
(a) Accusative.
(b) Infinitive statement in indirect discourse.
5. Possible constructions?
Object of fatentis, or subject or predicate of an infinitive depending on it.
6. Write Latin for to do, completing the idea of facilia.
Factu.
7. Write in Latin whatever is still necessary to complete the sentence.
Esse.
8. Meaning of the position of dictatori and magistrum?
Sharp contrast.
9. Probable general construction of sentence?
Indirect statement, in the infinitive, magistrum being its subject, and dictatori being the indirect object of the infinitive, or of a predicate adjective.
10. In the present construction, what modes possible after quid, and with what meanings respectively?
Subjunctive of indirect question, either deliberative or seriously asking for information, or infinitive, in rhetorical question practically amounting to an assertion.¹¹ 
11. If a partitive genitive is to follow, in what part of the clause have we learned that we are likely to find it?
As far removed from the word on which it depends as the other points of style will allow.
12. Decide, in the light of the whole passage, what kind of a sentence this necessarily is, and write the Latin for would there be.
Fore, or futurum esse.
13. Translate.

Adversus¹ ea² oratio³ consulis haud sane laeta fuit, magis fatentis⁴ ea⁵ quae diceret vera quam facilia⁶ ––––– ⁷ –––––:  dictatori magistrum⁸⁹ equitum intolerabilem fuisse;  quid^{10 11} consuli adversus collegam seditissum ac temerarium verium atque auctoritatis¹² –––––? ¹³
1. Classe grammaticale de adversus?
Participe ou préposition.
2. Fonctions possibles de ea?
Gouverné par la préposition adversus, ou accordé avec un abl. sing. ou un acc. pl.
3. Que savez-vous maintenant de adversus and de ea ? Comment ?
Oratio est nom. fém., et donc adversus n'est pas un participe, mais une préposition qui gouverne ea.
4. Construction de la suite (a) si c'est un nom ?  (b) si c'est un verbe ?
(a) Accusatif.
(b) Infinitif du discours indirect.
5. Construtions possibles ?
Un complément d'object de fatentis, ou un sujet ou un attribut d'un infinitif dépendant de lui.
6. Ecrivez le mot latin signifiant faire, complétant facilia.
Factu.
7. Ecrivez en latin ce qui manque encore pour compléter la phrase.
Esse.
8. Sens des positions de dictatori et de magistrum?
Accentuer le contraste.
9. Construction probable de l'ensemble de la phrase ?
Infinitive du discours indirect, dont magistrum est le sujet, et dictatori le complément d'objet indirect ou l'adjectif attribut.
10. Dans cette construction, quels modes peut-on trouver après quid, et quels sont leurs sens respectifs ?
Le subjonctif de l'interrogation indirecte, que celle-ci soit délibérative ou qu'elle représente vraiment une demande de renseignement, ou l'infinitif d'interrogation rhétorique, équivalant pratiquement à une assertion. ¹¹ 
11. Si un génitif partitif doit suivre, dans quelle partie de la proposition avons nous appris que nous risquons de le rencontrer ?
A une distance variable du mot dont il dépend, en fonction des autres particularités stylistiques.
12.A la lumière de tout ce passage, décidez du type que cette phrase doit avoir, et écrivez en latin l'équivalent de devrait être.
Fore, or futurum esse.
13. Traduisez.

It will be convenient to refer, in these suggestions, to some one of the books commonly employed by beginners in Latin;  e.g. Dr. Leighton’s "First Steps in Latin."  The application can of course be made with ease to any other book of the same scope.

First and most important is it that the beginner should accustom himself from the very outset to the sound of the Roman language.  In Lesson XIII, e.g., the learner, having prepared himself upon the sentences regina laudat, scribae portant, puellae laudant, laudas, laudamus, reginae donant, etc., should not open his book to translate them.  His book should be closed, and he should give the meaning of regina laudat, etc., as his teacher delivers the sentence to him.  To translate regina laudat at hearing, after having studied it, is not beyond the mental power of the modern boy.  Neither is it beyond his power, with possibly a trifle of patience on the part of his teacher, to translate at hearing a new sentence of the same scope, e.g. laudo;  scriba laudat;  scriba donat;  scribae donant.  But if this is true, a very important truth at once follows.  There is, it will be admitted, no greater jump in any first Latin book than that from nothing at all to the first lesson in Latin sentences of one and two words.  If, in taking that step, the boy can successfully prepare himself to translate the set lesson at hearing, and to translate in the same way new sentences of the same vocabulary and the same scope, then he can prepare himself, as he progresses by carefully graded steps, in any of the books in common use, to translate any previously studied Latin at hearing, and to translate at hearing any new sentences of the same scope, framed for him by the invention of his teacher.  Before the book is opened by any one but the teacher, the exercises of the class-room should be (1) the translation at hearing of the review, (2) the translation at hearing of the advance, and (3) the translation at hearing of new sentences of the same scope.  And no one will venture to say that a boy who had been carried in this way through an introductory book would not begin Caesar as a better Latinist than a boy who had not been so started.

Pour des raisons pratiques, je me réfèrerai dans ces propositions à l'un des livres couramment en usage pour les débutants en latin, à savoir le "Premiers pas en latin" du dr Leighton. On peut bien sûr facilement adapter la méthode à n'importe quel autre manuel du même type.

Tout d'abord, et c'est le plus important, le jeune élève devra s'habituer dès le tout début au son de la langue des Romains. À la leçon XIII, par exemple, après s'être exercé sur les phrases regina laudat, scribae portant, puellae laudant, laudas, laudamus, reginae donant, etc., il ne devra pas ouvrir son livre pour les traduire. Le livre devra rester fermé, et l'élève devra donner la signification de regina laudat, etc., à la lecture de la phrase par le professeur. La traduction de regina laudat, quand on l'entend après l'avoir étudiée, n'est pas hors de portée de l'intelligence du garçon d'aujourd'hui. Il ne lui est pas non plus impossible, pourvu que le professeur fasse preuve d'un minimum de patience, de traduire après écoute une nouvelle phrase du même genre, par ex. laudo ; scriba laudat ; scriba donat ; scribae donant. Et si cela est vrai, alors en découle immédiatement une vérité des plus importantes. On admettra qu'il n'y a pas de plus grand saut, dans n'importe quel manuel de latin, que celui qui existe entre rien du tout et la première leçon, avec des phrases d'un ou de deux mots latins. Si, en faisant ce pas, le garçon peut se préparer avec succès à la traduction après écoute de la leçon qu'il avait à apprendre, puis à la traduction, toujours après écoute, de phrases nouvelles du même type et avec le même vocabulaire, il peut également se préparer, si la progression est soigneusement étudiée, et avec n'importe lequel des manuels communément en usage, à la traduction après écoute de n'importe quelle phrase latine précédemment étudiée, ainsi qu'à celle de toute phrase nouvelle du même type, fabriquée à son intention par l'imagination de son professeur. Avant toute ouverture du livre (sauf par le professeur), les exercices en classe consisteront 1) à la traduction après écoute de la leçon précédente, 2) à la traduction après écoute de la nouvelle leçon, et 3) à la traduction après écoute de nouvelles phrases du même type. Et personne ne prétendra qu'un garçon qui aura ainsi étudié tout son livre de latin élémentaire ne se montrera pas meilleur latiniste quand il abordera César qu'un garçon qui n'a pas été préparé de cette façon.

The sketch here given for the treatment of the accusative constructions suggests the way in which any set of constructions should be managed.  I append a few specimens of the results for this and that class of words in a number of cases.  I grant that the enumeration for the ablative, and even for the genitive, is of provoking sweep;  but this is only equivalent to saying that the number of meanings of the ablative and genitive cases which a young student must learn, under whatsoever method, is great.

Le modèle donné ici pour le traitement des constructions de l'accusatif peut être appliqué à n'importe quelle autre série de constructions. Je vais continuer par quelques exemples de ce que cela entraîne pour différentes catégories de mots et à d'autres cas. Je reconnais bien volontiers que, pour l'ablatif, et même pour le génitif, l'énumération est d'une longueur impressionnante ; mais cela revient à dire que la quantité des significations possibles de l'ablatif et du génitif que le jeune élève doit assimiler, et ceci quelle que soit la méthode, est considérable.

Nous avons déjà parlé de l'accusatif. Quant au vocatif, il ne pose pas de problèmes, pourvu qu'on ne se trompe pas sur sa forme.

Nearly all ablatives can be absolute, or can depend upon a comparative, or on a word like dignus or contentus.  Beside this, a proper name (say Caesare) may be in the ablative of source, after some word like genitus, though such a form of expression is naturally rare in the prose read before going to college.  Of course such a word cannot be in the ablative of means (in the narrower sense), or of specification, or of time, or of degree of difference.  A word like die, however, beside the general possibilities, may indicate time, or the degree of difference, a word like auro means or price, a word like capite description, etc.  I shall not attempt here a complete list of suggestions.  In general, in spite of the complexity of the uses of the ablative, the learner is less likely to go badly astray in dealing with this case in actual practice than in dealing with the genitive or the accusative.

One point not yet touched upon is of the gravest consequence.  when a form occurs which may be in either of two cases, or even possibly in any one of three or four cases, the pupil should not allow himself to suppose that he knows the case, even if a probability presents itself at once.  E.g., a student reading in B.G.1.3, and passing by ea (his rebus adducti et auctoritate Orgetorigis permoti constituerunt ea, quae, etc.), may easily suppose ea to be the object of constituerunt, instead of waiting until conviction of some kind is forced upon him by the remainder of the sentence;  which conviction will prove to be that ea was the object, not of constituerunt, but of an infinitive which is not reached until the quae-clause is finished.  The direction to the student should be:  Have your eyes open, but keep in doubt as long as possible;  in a word, THINK, and WAIT.

Verbal constructions should be dealt with in a similar way.  The possibilities after conjunctions should, in particular, be entirely familiar.  Given a quamquam or a quamvis, the student should be able to tell instantly what is coming.  Given an antequam, he should know precisely what the two ideas are, either one of which may possibly be in the speaker’s mind, and by what mode each was expressed by the Romans.  Given an ut, he should know the full range of ideas possible for the speaker to have when he so begins a clause, and by what construction each of these ideas is expressed.  And in particular it will be found useful to set before the class the whole range of verbal constructions that are capable of serving as the object or the subject or a verb (substantive clauses), and to ask them which and how many of these a given verb or phrase may take.  These substantive clauses are as follows: –
 The indirect statement of fact (infinitive).
 The indirect question of fact.
 The indirect deliberative question.
 The final clause.
 The consecutive clause.

Presque tous les ablatifs peuvent être absolus, ou bien compléments d'un comparatif ou d'un mot comme dignus ou contentus. En outre, un nom propre (disons Caesare) peut être à l'ablatif d'origine, après un mot comme genitus, quoiqu'une telle forme soit naturellement rare dans la prose étudiée avant l'entrée à l'université. Bien sûr, un mot comme celui-là ne peut pas être à l'ablatif de moyen (au sens étroit), ni à celui de relation ou de temps ou de degré de différence. Un mot comme die, par contre, en plus des emplois habituels, peut indiquer le temps ou le degré de différence ; un mot comme auro, le moyen ou le prix ; un mot comme capite la description, etc. Je ne vais pas tenter de dresser ici une liste complète. En pratique, malgré la complexité des emplois de l'ablatif, l'élève est généralement moins susceptible de totalement s'égarer qu'avec le génitif ou l'accusatif.

Un point que je n'ai pas encore abordé et qui est de la plus grande importance : quand l'élève rencontre une forme qui peut correspondre à un ou deux cas, ou même à trois ou quatre, il ne doit pas se permettre de décider a priori de quel cas il s'agit, même si une solution lui paraît évidente du premier coup. Par exemple, un étudiant qui lit B.G.1.3, et qui tombe sur ea (his rebus adducti et auctoritate Orgetorigis permoti constituerunt ea, quae, etc.), peut facilement supposer que ea est l'objet de constituerunt, au lieu d'attendre qu'une preuve lui en soit donnée par la fin de la phrase : finalement la preuve sera faite que ea est bien l'objet, non pas de constituerunt, mais d'un infinitif qui n'arrivera qu'à la fin de la proposition introduite par quae. On doit donner ce conseil à l'élève : Gardez les yeux ouverts, mais restez dans le doute le plus longtemps possible ; autrement dit RÉFLÉCHISSEZ et ATTENDEZ.

On procèdera de la même façon pour les constructions verbales. On veillera en particulier à ce que l'élève soit complètement familiarisé avec les différentes structures qui peuvent suivre une conjonction. Devant un quamquam ou un quamvis, l'élève doit être à même de dire immédiatement quelle va être la suite. Devant un antequam, il doit connaître précisément les deux idées qui peuvent être présentes à l'esprit de l'auteur, et le mode par lequel les Romains exprimaient chacune de ces idées. Devant un ut, il faut qu'il connaisse tout la gamme des différentes idées qu'un locuteur peut avoir quand il commence une proposition par ce mot, ainsi que les différentes structures grammaticales par lesquelles chacune de ces idées peut s'exprimer. Il s'avèrera spécialement utile de présenter à la classe l'éventail complet des constructions verbales susceptibles de servir d'objet ou de sujet à un verbe (les propositions substantives [?]) et de demander lesquelles, et combien d'entre elles, peuvent être associées à un verbe ou à un groupe de mots donné. Ces propositions substantives [?] sont les suivantes :
l'affirmation au discours indirect ( une infinitive)
l'interrogation indirecte
l'interrogation délibérative indirecte
la proposition de but
la proposition de conséquence.