Ossa latinitatis sola ad mentem reginaldi rationemque: the mere bones of latin according to the thou
Ossa Latinitatis sola ad mentem
Reginaldi rationemque: The Mere Bones of Latin According to the Thought and System of Reginald Reginald Foster
Visit to download the full and correct content document: https://textbookfull.com/product/ossa-latinitatis-sola-ad-mentem-reginaldi-rationemqu e-the-mere-bones-of-latin-according-to-the-thought-and-system-of-reginald-reginald-f oster/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant download maybe you interests ...
The Slave Master of Trinidad William Hardin Burnley and the Nineteenth Century Atlantic World Selwyn Reginald Cudjoe
Practicing the Art of Leadership A Problem Based Approach to Implementing the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders 5th Edition Reginald Leon Green
Every effort has been given to determining the exact source of each of the texts reproduced in the reading sheets, and if the source of the few uncredited texts becomes available, it will be acknowledged in subsequent printings.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z 39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Foster, Reginaldus Thomas, 1939– author. Ossa Latinitatis sola ad mentem Reginaldi rationemque = The mere bones of Latin according to the thought and system of Reginald / Reginaldus Thomas Foster and Daniel Patricius McCarthy. pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. isbn 978-0-8132-2832-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Latin language— Textbooks. I. McCarthy, Daniel P. (Daniel Patrick), author. II. Title. III. Title: Mere bones of Latin according to the thought and system of Reginald.
PA 2087.5.F 67 2015 478.2421—dc23 2015023750
“LATINITATIS
CORPUS”
reginaldo procuratore
adiutore daniele
QUINQUE IN VOLUMINIBUS
“LATIN’S BODY”
reginald being the overseer
daniel the assistant
IN FIVE VOLUMES
Latinitatis Corpus: The “Body of Latin” is a way of speaking about an appreciation of the Latin language and through it an engagement with Latin writers and speakers throughout the history of western civilization. Through personal interaction with authors of every era and branch of knowledge and type of human experience, our own knowledge of western religions, sciences, and arts has increased, and the full range of human experience is made available.
As an appreciation of Latinity has grown within, the mingling with Latinity grows without. It includes decades of teaching the Latin language in our present day to anyone interested in learning, from the first session-class-meeting to the most fully developed association with authors of every age.
Teaching Latin during the academic term has given an opportunity to develop and test a proper method of drawing others into and guiding them in their dealing with the language. This method of teaching has been recorded in this volume I, Ossa Latinitatis Sola: The Mere Bones of Latin, which presents the mere bones or skeletal structure of the language through one hundred and five encounters over three academic years. The reading sheets included in this volume consist of a collection of real Latin texts taken from sources of every age who become our guide and textbook. They contain innumerable examples to illustrate every aspect of the Latin language. In these Latin texts
teachers are encouraged to seek and find examples in order to illustrate each aspect of the language and eventually to compose their own fresh collections of reading sheets annually.
To help teachers with this task of finding examples, there is projected an accompanying volume II entitled, Ossium Carnes Multae: The Bones’ Meats Abundant, which will provide numerous, complete letters written by Cicero in their beautiful, functional fullness along with our commentary on nearly every phrase in which we illustrate specific examples of Latin usage present in these letters and cross-referenced to their corresponding encounters in the Ossa teaching book. To accompanying these examples, we have also recorded recitations of the letters of Cicero. We call this collection volume III: Os Praesens Ciceronis Epistularis: The Immediate Mouth of Cicero in his Letters
Another offering we are making is a collection of worksheets or exercises that direct the student in the learning of the language. We call these projects ludi domestici or “home games.” The production of new ludi yearly for classes taught in Rome over several decades means that all we need to do now is collect them and arrange them according to their corresponding encounters of the Five Experiences. That volume IV of Ludi we call: Ossibus Ludi E xercendis: Games for Exercising the Bones.
The school work at Rome for decades provided the opportunity of visiting geographical and historical places where the events of western history unfolded while we were using original Latin texts as our guide. These texts have been collected, and we provide them in volume V under the title: Ossibus Revisenda Migrantibus: Things—Places—Events to be Revisited, As Bones Roam About
We hope these our own five volumes of Latinitatis Corpus: The Body of Latin may appeal both to an academic community and more broadly to all those who are engaged in study, research, and teaching Latin, and may inspire them to produce similar works.
Besides these volumes, teaching Latin during the Schola Latinitatis Aestiva, “Summer School of Latin,” is intended for more advanced study. The long summer evenings give particular opportunity to sit in the garden sub arboribus, “under the trees,” to experience without end, sine fine, how the language was and is spoken.
Libraries will gain invaluable tools, and Latin teachers will find in this series the resources needed to fulfill their mission of drawing others into the documentation of human realities of western civilization expressed in Latin.
these very books “of the body of latinity” having gradually arisen previously from the fervent association and help of classroom-listeners, participants and people zealous about latin, as is wished of course under a good omen must profit and be effective in the future for the ardent education and preparation of other similar associates, companions and ones pursuing latin 14 november 2014
CONTINENTUR contents
IMAGINES | illustrations XVII
EXordIuM | foreword XIX Daniel B. Gallagher
PrAEfAtIo | prologue xxv James G. Leachman
ProoEMIuM ScrIPtoruM | authors’ introduction XXIX
PActuM AcAdEMIcuM | “academic contract” XXXV
LEctIoNuM rAtIoNES | rationale of the reading sheets XXXVII
coMPENdIArIA AuctoruM oPEruMquE NoMINA XLI abbreviated names of works and authors
VocAbuLoruM coMPENdIA | abbreviations of words XLV • prima experientia 1 First Experience
1. Ossium Gluten: Sententiarum Latinarum Ordo = Exitus Et Vocabula. Signa Personarum In Verbis 3 the Bones’ Glue: the structure of Latin sentences = terminations and vocabulary. signs of persons in verbs
2. asinus—capra—vehiculum.
Duplex Principium In Neutris Supremum 10 Block I nouns. super double principle in neuters
3. Personarum Pronomina. Et—Ac—Atque; Et . . . Et; –Que . . –Que 16 pronouns of persons. conjunctions: and, also, even; both . . and; both . . and
4. Trapezita, Ae; Socer, Eri; Honestus, A, Um; Liber, Era, Erum 19 variations in Block I nouns. adjectives of Block I
5. Adiectiva Velut Substantiva; Brevitas Et Ambiguitas 21 adjectives used as nouns according to their gender; brevity, and ambiguity
6. Casuum demonstratio + significatio. Praepositiones + accusativus – quattuor cum motu 23 indication and meaning of the functions. prepositions with the object form—four with motion
7. Modi indicativi tempora eorumque intellectus vernaculi 28 times-tenses of the indicative mode and their vernacular meanings
8. Principales verborum partes. Tempora 4, 5, 6 omnium verborum: compositio facilis 33 principal parts of verbs. times 4, 5, 6 of all verbs: easy construction
9. Verbum “esse” toto in indicativo. Nullum obiectum + “esse” 37 the verb “to be” in the whole indicative. no object with the verb “to be”
10. Pronomen relativum: subiectum + obiectum. Quattuor principia 40 the relative pronoun as subject and object. four principles
11. Pronomen relativum: brevitas, antecedentis omissio, ordo 43 relative pronoun: brevity, the omission of the antecedent, position
12. reliqua indicativi tempora 1, 2, 3 secundum verbi genus. Difficultates futuri 49 remaining times of the indicative 1, 2, 3 according to verb type. difficulties of Time 3
13. Omnia iterantur modi indicativi tempora. INTERROGANDI FORMULAE; ALIA QUAESITA SIMILIA 55 all the times-tenses of the indicative mode are repeated. ways of asking; other similar questions
14. Peculiares verborum formae: contendo, ere; –io, ere 58 special forms of the verbs: contendo, ere; –io, ere
15. Vocabula in –is: m, f, n, in lexico cum exemplis 62 Block II nouns in –is: masculine, feminine, neuter, in dictionary with examples
16. Nomina rursus in –is 67 again nouns in –is
17. Eadem nomina necnon formae duplicis imperativi + “esse” 68 the same nouns as well as the forms of the double command including the verb “to be”
18. Adiectiva in –is. Tres modi in lexico. Iunctio I + II 73 Block II adjectives in –is. three ways in the dictionary. joining Blocks I and II
19. Singularum adhuc traditarum repetitio rerum 78 repetition of all elements explained thus far
20. Possessionis casus in nominibus + adiectivis; bini usus 79 the of-possession function in nouns and adjectives; two usages
21. Vocis passivae indicatio in temporibus 1, 2, 3. Phoneticae exceptiones 87 demonstration of the passive voice in Times 1, 2, 3. phonetic exceptions
22. Passivarum formarum exercitatio 91 exercise of the passive forms
23. Possessio—gen. in relativis: Latine + Anglice 92 function of-possession in relatives: in Latin and English
24. Possessio: is – ea – id + eius – eorum – earum; meus + mei; noster + nostri, nostrum 94 of-possession; he, she, it; of him, her, it; his, hers, its, of them (men), of them (women); their; my, of me; our, of us
25. Iteratio possessionis in pronominibus 99 repetition of-possession in the pronouns
26. Ceterae passivi verbi formulae: 4, 5, 6. Collocatio partium 100 remaining forms of the passive verb in Times 4, 5, 6. the placing of the verbal parts
27. Ablativi casus vis ac formae in nominibus et adiectivis 103 the meaning and forms of the function by-with-from-in in nouns and adjectives
28. Ablativi item formae in pronominibus et relativis. Praepositiones cum ablativo 108 likewise the forms by-with-from-in used in pronouns and relatives. prepositions with the ablative
29. Verba deponentia 115 deponent verbs
30. Reflexivi pronominis usus: meus—mei—me—mihi; tuus—tui—te—tibi . 122 use of the reflexive pronoun: my, of me, me, to me, myself; yours, of you, you, to you, yourself . . .
31. Pronominis reflexivi usus: suus, a, um; se – sui – sibi. Difficultates 124 use of the reflexive pronoun: his, hers, its, their, one’s own; himself, herself, themselves, oneself. difficulties
32. Repetitiones omnium 132 review of all things
33. Casus dativi intellectus ac figurae in nominibus et adiectivis atque in pronominibus et relativis 133 meaning and forms of the function to-for-from in nouns and adjectives as well as in pronouns and relatives
34. Imperativus passivus et deponens 147 passive and deponent command forms
35. Manus, us; species, iei: adiectiva nulla; 20% nominum 151 hand; appearance: no adjectives; 20% of nouns
Primae Experientiae lectionum paginulae 155 Reading Sheets—First Experience
Secundae Experientiae lectionum paginulae 207
Reading Sheets—Second Experience
TERTIA EXPERIENTIA
Third Experience
251
1 (36) Adiectivorum comparatio et varia significatio 255 comparison of adjectives and their diverse meaning
2 (37) Gradus adverbiorum. Difficultates neutrius in formis 260 degrees of adverbs. difficulties in the forms of the neuter
3 (38) Repetitio ex prima experientia nominum: is = es; vocativus 265 repetition of nouns from the First Experience: is = es; function of direct address
4 (39) Repetitio ex prima experientia verborum eorumque contractiones; quattuor imperia 270 repetition of verbs from the First Experience and their contractions; four command forms
5 (40) Repetitio ex prima experientia pronominum; eis = iis; is, ea, id; hic, haec, hoc 275 repetition of pronouns from the First Experience; forms of eis = iis; meanings of is, ea, id; hic, haec, hoc
6 (41) Repetitio ex prima experientia reflexivi pronominis; adiectiva: iste – ille – ipse 279 repetition of the reflexive pronoun from the First Experience; adjectives: iste – ille – ipse
7 (42) Repetitio ex prima experientia relativi; interrogativum, indefinitum; novem adiectiva unus . . . solus
285 repetition of the relative pronoun from the First Experience; the interrogative, indefinite; nine adjectives unus . . . solus
8 (43) Latina in lingua “quam” varie et difficulter 290 “quam” in the Latin language with various usages and difficulties
9 (44) Coniunctivi modi formae:
T.1s, T.2s, T.3s, T.4s active et passive
293 the forms of the subjunctive mode: T.1s, T.2s, T.3s, T.4s actively and passively
10 (45) Coniunctivi modi usus infinitus. Plurima principia
302 countless uses of the subjunctive mode. very many principles
11 (46) Modus coniunctivus ipsius verbi “esse”
305 subjunctive mode of the verb itself “to be”
12 (47) “Consecutio temporum” in universum
306 “sequence of tenses” in general
13 (48) Consecutio minutatim: Latine atque Anglice
312 sequence of tenses in detail: in Latin and English
14 (49) Consecutio Temporum pluribus in exemplis
316 sequence of tenses in quite a few examples
15 (50) Quattuor participia Latina. Difficultates et principia
317 four Latin participles. difficulties and principles
16 (51) Participiorum formae
322 forms of the participles
17 (52) Participia ut nomina. Exempla brevitatis 329 participles as nouns. examples of brevity
18 (53) Usus participiorum: solum cum esse 332 the use of the participles: alone, with “to be”
19 (54) Ablativus absolutus 336 ablative absolute
20 (55) Ablativus absolutus aliter prolatus 339 ablative absolute expressed in other ways
21 (56) Ablativus absolutus in auctoribus ac paginis 346 ablative absolute in authors and on reading sheets
22 (57) Ablativus absolutus sine participio “esse” 347 ablative absolute without the participle “being”
23 (58) Usus coniunctivi.
finales: ut – ne – ut . . . non; finalis: qui, quae, quod 349 uses of the subjunctive.
final clauses: ut, ne, ut . . non; final: qui, quae, quod
24 (59) Coniunctivi usus. causales: cum; quod, quia, quoniam; Quando; qui, QUAE, QUOD; quippe qui, utpote qui 355 uses of the subjunctive.
causal sentences: cum; quod, quia, quoniam; quando; qui, quae, quod; quippe qui, utpote qui
25 (60) Usus coniunctivi: quaestio indirecta non relativa 364 the uses of the subjunctive: indirect question, not relative
26 (61) Tempus in coniunctivo futurum 367 futurity in the subjunctive
27 (62) Consecutio modo in coniunctivo alia post tempora 372 sequence in the subjunctive mode after other verb times
28 (63) Reflexivum pronomen in coniunctivo: ambiguitates 376 the reflexive pronoun in the subjunctive: uncertainties
29 (64) Coniunctivi usus: concessivae sententiae cum particulis 379 uses of the subjunctive: concessive sentences with their particles
30 (65) Usus coniunctivi. temporales: postquam, ut, donec, priusquam, antequam ante . . . quam, prius . . . quam, post . . . quam 381 uses of the subjunctive. temporal clauses: after, when, until, before
31 (66) Coniunctivi usus: temporales sententiae et “cum” 388 uses of the subjunctive: temporal sentences and “cum”
32 (67) Usus coniunctivi. Consecutivae purae: ut, ut non 391 uses of the subjunctive. pure result: ut, ut non
33 (68) Usus coniunctivi.
Consecutivae complEmentariae; DESCRIPTIVAE; qui 396 uses of the subjunctive. complementary result; characteristic; qui
34 (69) Usus loci: quo, unde, ubi + casus locativus 402 expressions of place: to where, from where, where and the locative function
35 (70) Temporis usus Latini: quo, per quod, intra quod 408 Latin expressions of time: at which, through which, within which Tertiae Experientiae lectionum paginulae 412 Reading Sheets—Third Experience •
3 (73) Obliqua oratio: plurima alia specimina 469 indirect, reported speech: very many concrete examples
4 (74) Verba reminiscendi – obliviscendi + genitivus, etiam accusativus 476 verbs of remembering—forgetting with the genitive function and even the accusative
5 (75) Pretii et mercaturae ablativus ac genitivus; “opus est” Peculiariaque verba: TAEDET, PAENITET, PUDET, MISERET, PIGET 477 ablative of definite price and the genitive of indefinite price; “opus est” and special verbs
6 (76) Orationis obliquae exercitatio et demonstratio seriore aetate
480 impressing reported speech and showing it in a later age
7 (77) Gerundium et gerundivum
483 gerund and gerundive
8 (78) Verba cum ablativo; in vernaculis maior difficultas 488 verbs with the ablative; a rather big difficulty in their vernacular translations
9 (79) Qui, quae, quod; quis, quid: varii usus decem 490 qui, quae, quod; quis, quid: ten different usages
10 (80) Gerundivum quibusdam cum verbis curandi, tradendi, suscipiendi
498 the gerundive with certain verbs of taking care, handing over, undertaking 11 (81) Supinum duplex, ETIAM IN ORATIONE OBLIQUA FORMAE PASSIVAE FUTURAE
500 the double supine, also in indirect discourse of the future passive 12 (82) Traditarum exercitia rerum. Verba inregularia: fero, eo, volo . 505 exercises of matters already taught. irregular verbs: I carry, I go, I wish . . .
13 (83) Modi coniunctivi attractio: normae et exemPla in paginis 509 attraction of the subjunctive: principles and examples on the reading pages
14 (84) Finales quattuordecim rationes 518 fourteen ways to express purpose
15 (85) Formulae imperativi universae: affirmantis et negantis 522 the general formulae of the command expression: affirming and negating
16 (86) Conditionales Latinae sententiae tribus modis 528 Latin conditional sentences in three ways
17 (87) In exemplis conditionales 532 conditionals in examples
18 (88) Plura de conditionalibus: “utinam” 533 more practice with the conditionals: the particle “utinam”
19 (89) Passiva formula obliquis cum verbis 534 the passive expression of verbs with genitive, dative, ablative
20 (90) Comparationis ablativus et mensurae. ALIAE COMPARATIONES CORRELATIVAE.
USUS CORRELATIVI ORATIONE IN OBLIQUA 542 the ablative of comparison and of measure. other correlative comparisons. correlative uses in indirect discourse
21 (91) Possessionis dativus ac finalis 552 dative of possession and of purpose
22 (92) Fore + ut 554 substitute for the future infinitive
23 (93) Dubitare + infinitivum + num – quin 556 dubitare + infinitive + num – quin
24 (94) 3% in temporum consecutione: in consecutivis, conditionalibus, et usibus originalibus 558 3% in the sequence of tenses: in result sentences, conditionals, and original subjunctives
25 (95) Timendi verba + “periculum . . est” 562 verbs of fearing and the phrase “periculum . . est”
26 (96) Qualitatis declaratio triplex: genitivo, ablativo, et definitione adiectivi 565 triple statement of quality: by the genitive, ablative, and with definition of the adjective
27 (97) Repetitiones ante actorum 567 repetition of things done before
28 (98) Respiciuntur iterum MODI CONIUNCTIVI USUS QUIDAM 568 certain uses of the subjunctive are considered again
29 (99) Genitivus partitivus 570 genitive of part
30 (100) Possessionis in praedicato genitivus: ITEM iudicis; meum—tuum, eius 572 genitive of possession in the predicate: likewise: of a judge; mine – yours, his . . .
31 (101) Prohibendi vocabula: ne—quominus—quin. Usus “quin” 574 verbs of prohibiting: ne – quominus – quin. the uses of quin
32 (102) Interest + refert ex lexico ipso 576 verbs interest and refert from the dictionary itself
33 (103) Oratione in obliqua condicionales 580 conditionals in indirect discourse
34 (104) Res metrica Breviter 589 poetic meter briefly
35 (105) Serioris Latinitatis proprietates 592 characteristics of later Latin literature
Quartae Experientiae lectionum paginulae 596
Reading Sheets—Fourth Experience
QVINTA EXPERIENTIA
651 Fifth Experience
Quintae Experientiae lectionum paginulae 655
Reading Sheets—Fifth Experience
AdNotAtIo dE tItuLIS | advice on the inscriptions 747
APPENdIX cuM tItuLoruM EXPLIcAtIoNIbuS 749 appendix with explanations of the inscriptions
bIbLIoGrAPHIA | bibliography 776
dEbItI PHotoGrAPHIS HoNorES | honors due to the photographers 785 INdIcES | indexes
SuPEr f oNtIbuS | about the sources 787
LEctIoNuM foNtES | sources of the reading sheets 790
LEctIoNuM AuctorES | authors of the reading sheets 802
LocI AdLAtI | texts having been quoted 808
AuctoruM A NobIS coMMEMorAtoruM NoMINA 810 names of authors mentioned by us
rEcENtIoruM NoMINA | names of more recent people 812
ArGuMENtA | subject matters 814
PArtES SIVE cASuS AtquE MuNErA quIbuS PErfuNGI NoMINA
AdIEctIVA ProNoMINA PoSSuNt LAtINA 823 roles or cases and functions which Latin nouns, adjectives, pronouns can perform
coNIuNctIVI dE (MuLtIPLIcI) uSu dIScEPtAtIoNuM ELENcHuS 825 a list of discussions about the (multiple) use of the subjunctive dE ScrIPtorIbuS | about the authors 827
AdIutorES | helpers 828
AGNoScENdA MErItA | acknowledgments 829
IMAGINES
illustrations
Neumagen school relief cover photo and 785
Dedication of this book VII
A frame of the Bayeux tapestry 2
The Vatican bee fountain 154
The dedication of the Milwaukee cathedral 202
A manuscript page of Psalm 66 252
The Vatican library access inscription 411
The inscription over Raphael’s tomb 456
The Roman elephant obelisk inscription 595
The Vatican printing shop dedication 652
Reginald’s office window at the Vatican 654
An account of opening a Roman plaza 746
EXORDIUM
foreword
Iamdudum exspectas, optime sodalis, librum qui fundamenta de modo Fosteriano docendi unum in locum conferat. Quo facto editores a me petierunt ut Exordium scribam quo animus tuus, ut opinor, ardentius excitetur ad hanc viam Latinae docendae et discendae linguae sequendam. Etenim si ego, qui nullis in aliis studiis nisi scientificis versatus sum, lingua Latina institui et aliqua antiquarum litterarum cognitione erudiri potui, nemo est quin, consilia Reginaldi secutus, facultatem legendi, scribendi, et loquendi Latine adipiscatur.
Quodsi nihil magis valet ad linguam Latinam ediscendam quam diligentissime et accuratissime cuiusque verbi formam necnon totius sententiae significationem observare ac omnino perscrutari, insipientis est hunc onerosum laborem defugere et vagam significationis sententiae notionem satis habere. Minime mirum nobis videri debet eos meliores et fortiores vigere qui cautiores et attentiores singula elementa curaverint. Hoc enimvero Reginaldus docet, hoc praecellit.
Qua de re spero fore ut magis disciplinam quam methodum ex hoc libro colligas, optime sodalis, magis indicationem quam praescriptionem. Ne dubites quin, Reginaldi “ossibus” instructus, gravitati cuiusque muneris quo fungeris convenias. Nihilominus memor esto: “nil sine magno vita labore dedit mortalibus” (Horatius, Serm. I, 9, 59–60).
Quod ad me attinet, testificari velim quibus Reginaldi consiliis nunc valeam ad bene beateque operandum apud Officum pro Litteris Pontificiis expediendis. Haec quidem profecto necessaria esse opinor, neque iis praeditus essem nisi Reginaldus ipse ea suppeditavisset.
I. Unum necessarium
Cum Reginaldus lexicon extolleret tamquam unum instrumentum necessarium, non possum non confiteri eum mihi insanire visum. Cum autem conclave Reginaldi in aedibus Vaticanis occupavissem et nihil omnino repperissem nisi mensam, telephonum, Pontificis imaginem, ac densum dictionarium quod Lewis and Short appellatur—nullum scilicet instrumentum computatorium, nullum graphium, nullum calamum, nullam chartam (Reginaldus, ut videtur, omnia dictabat)—liquido patuit eum fidem
servare. Ego vero, verens ne qua regula grammatica me fugeret, plurimos alios libros in officinam attuli quibus citius dubia de usu linguae solvere possem. Sed cotidiana exercitatione scriptorumque optimorum exempla acute ac subtiliter inspiciendo, certior factus sum verissimum esse facilius ad Latini sermonis usum antiquaeque Latinitatis imitationem nos pervenire si optimum lexicon super omnia usurpemus, non solum quia partes principales necnon significationes omnium verborum contineat, sed etiam cum fons sit inexhaustus linguae Latinae vivae.
Re vera minime hoc est mirandum, quandoquidem, rudimentis linguae habitis, necesse est nativum et incorruptum Romani sermonis odorem spirare qui tantummodo ex ampliore lexico sentiri potest. Alioqui sermo noster, verbis insolitis barbarisque infectus, quasi fictus ac immundus evadit atque sententias Romanorum in dictiones nostras neglegenter convertimus; quod impedimentum superamus si oculis Romanorum mundum conspicimus, cerebris Romanorum cogitamus et cogitata dicimus eodem modo quo Romani ea dicerent si nostris temporibis viverent. Qua de causa ad paginas optimi lexici recurremus et, eloquentiam et optimam scribendi rationem in illo reperientes, paulatim nulloque paene negotio ad Terentii proprietatem ac Ciceronianam facilitatem appropinquabimus. Neque enim dubitandum est quin non solum vocabula maiorum nostrorum, sed etiam humanitatem et sapientiam unico ex hoc instrumento necessario effodiemus.
II. Copia fontium
Lectione multa sermonem latinum optime capi posse Reginaldus semper dicit et ideo studentibus tradit ingentem turbam scriptorum. Sollertia quam maxima curat ut discipuli copiam locorum ante oculos unoquoque die habeant; in quos legendos ita studiose operam navent, ut iam etiam modos scribendi omnium aetatum more experiantur. Primum Ioannis XXIII deinde Ovidii, tum Plauti tum Erasmi, modo Pii II modo Quintiliani, semper autem Ciceronis: locupletissimas sententias ruminantur ut tam componendi quam intellegendi facultatem paulatim adquirant. Hoc modo demum cognovi nihil utilius esse cupientibus sollertiam Latinitatis adipisci quam litterarum tum recentium tum antiquarum, tum classicarum tum ecclesiasticarum pariter exempla perscrutari. Praeterea nullus torpor, nulla neglegentia, nullus hebes sensus memoriam obtundet si mentes exacuemus auctores iugiter alternantes, ita ut in dolore solacium, in labore quietem, in paupertate divitias fidelissime e diversis litteris mutuemur. Equidem hodie alium atque alium scriptorem summo mane lego in officina priusquam animum ad scribendum convertam, praecipue quod, saepe ad eadem genera documentorum scribenda me conferens, praeprimis instandum est ne in molestam repetitionem vocabulorum incidam.
III. Sonoritas linguae
Gloriam Latinitatis e consonantia verborum effluere atque nihil neque dulcius neque suavius modulatione sentantiarum latinarum esse, valde
Reginaldo assentior. Nam si quis absolutum verae amoenitatis requirat exemplar, ad nihil rectius se verterit quam ad Latinitatem. Nihil enim in quopiam genere litterarum praesto est unde nos non possimus venari voluptatem. Reginaldus quidem poetas non praetermittit, quorum carminibus studentes prosam orationem molliorem reddere possunt.
Insuper—quod quidem maioris momenti videtur—intellectus Latinarum rerum ex auditu venit. Nam antequam venustas et pulchritudo Latinitatis percipiatur, non solum necesse est cuique auditori intellegere ea quae aures eius percutiunt, sed intellegere solum per aures quae dicuntur intellegi posse. Ea est hominum natura, ut cum quis aliquid mente vult capere, dat operam ut id capiatur aliquo sono qui ore proferri potest. Iustissimum ergo est sermonem “lingua” potius quam “manu” designari. Tametsi scripta manent, tamen, oribus auribusque deficientibus, scripta numquam exsisterent.
Qua re sapientissimus scriptor iocosus Americanus Marcus Twain quondam dixit se nil morari hominem qui uno tantum modo quodque verbum scribere posset. Quisnam porro non meminerit iudicium Socratis contra scripta in dialogo cum Phaedro relatum? Ipse enim non solum verebatur ut memoria teneremus quae promptissima in libris vel in Tela Totius Terrae reperiuntur, sed ne in adrogantiam, qua nihil est peius, recideremus, aestimantes nos ea sapere quae non magis quam leviter nota sunt nobis.
Intellegentiam ex auditu oriri Reginaldus iterum iterumque monstrat, quatenus numquam scriptiones discipulos tractare sinit nisi quis ante clara voce recitaverit. Quamobrem etiamnunc, cum quodlibet opusculum in officina confeci, antequam id superioribus tradam, bis aut ter clara voce perlego ut errores corrigantur, aspera molliantur, supervacua deleantur.
Nihil mihi restat nisi ut multis nominibus gratias agam humanissimo et benignissimo Patri Danieli McCarthy, O.S.B., qui diligentissime hoc volumen exaravit quo tibi, optime sodalis, ossa praebentur, quibus efficaci, vivaci necnon diuturna experientia linguae Latinae fruaris.
Vale.
Rev.dus Dominus Daniel B. Gallagher Scriptor
Ex Aedibus Vaticanis, Kalendis Iuniis, anno MMXI
IDEM EXORDIUM
the same foreword
Here at last is a book that brings together the basic elements of Foster’s teaching method into one place. Perhaps you have been waiting for such a book as long as I have. Now that it is done, I would like to offer a word of encouragement to you, the reader, to follow Foster’s unique way of teaching and learning Latin. Indeed, my lack of training in the classics prior to taking Foster’s course is itself a testimony to the effectiveness of his method. Thus I am convinced that anyone who patiently follows his path will acquire the ability to read, write, and speak Latin.
Above all, Reggie insists that nothing is more conducive to learning Latin than recognizing the form of every word and analyzing the meaning of every sentence with utmost diligence and precision. It would be a shame to avoid this kind of hard work and settle for a vague “general idea” of what the sentence means. Accordingly, we should not be surprised to discover that those who emerge the strongest and most prepared in Latin are those who took the greatest pains to understand the littlest things from the beginning. This is what Reggie teaches and excels at.
My hope is that you take away from this book more a discipline than a method, more an approach than a recipe. I have little doubt that once you have built a strong skeleton out of these “bones,” you will be able to tackle any Latin task you wish. But never forget what Horace said: “Life has given nothing to us without hard work.”
I simply would like to mention three aspects of Reggie’s approach to Latin that I use daily in continuing his work at the Vatican. I think these aspects are absolutely necessary, and I never would have acquired them if it were not for him.
The One Thing Necessary
I used to think that Reggie’s high estimation of the dictionary as the one tool necessary for doing Latin well was rather crazy. But when I moved into his office at the Vatican Secretariat of State and found nothing but a desk, a telephone, a picture of the pope, and a thick dictionary by Lewis and Short—no computer, no pencil, no pen, no paper (apparently he dictated everything)—I realized how serious he was. Nevertheless, out of fear that I might forget some obscure grammatical rule, I hauled in a load of reference books all the same, thinking I might need them to resolve any doubts I had about correct Latin usage whenever composing texts. With daily practice, however, and a close, attentive study of the best writers, I discovered that a facility with the language and the ability to imitate classical authors can be ours if we allow ourselves to rely primarily on a first-rate dictionary, not only insofar as it contains the principal parts and meanings of every Latin word, but insofar as it is an inexhaustible thesaurus of examples taken from living Latin.
This really should come as no surprise since, once we have learned how
the language works, we need only breathe the pure, fresh air of authentic Roman discourse that can be acquired by consulting a comprehensive dictionary. If we do not, our way of expressing things in Latin becomes liable to strange, barbaric imports and starts to sound artificial and contrived; this is a problem we can avoid if we take the trouble to look at the world through Roman eyes, think with a Roman mind, and express our thoughts the way the Romans would express them if they were around today. This is why we must constantly make use of a superb Latin dictionary, for in its pages we find true eloquence and the best ways of expressing our thoughts, so that we can gradually assimilate the naturalness of Terence and the smoothness of Cicero. Moreover, with this one necessary tool we mine not only the words of those who have gone before us but their culture and wisdom as well.
An Abundance of Sources
Reggie always says that in order to understand Latin we need to read a variety of sources, and he accordingly introduces his students to a wide range of different authors. He takes great pains to expose his students to many different types of Latin each day. By applying themselves to a close study of these different authors, they quickly get a taste of the various styles of Latin spanning the centuries: first John XXIII, then Ovid; now Plautus, now Erasmus; a little Pius II, a little Quintilian, and always some Cicero. Reggie’s students sink their teeth into the juicy sentences of a range of authors for the purpose of both comprehension and composition. Reggie has convinced me that nothing is more conducive to a mastery of the language than giving equal time to a careful study of examples taken from both ancient and neo-Latin, classical and ecclesiastical sources. Moreover, if we continue to sharpen our minds by alternating between these different authors, our memories will never grow dull, groggy, weak, or numb, and in times of sadness we find consolation, in weariness rest, and in want riches. That is why I begin each day by reading one and then another author before turning my thoughts to writing. These authors help me to avoid falling into the trap of recycling the same words over and over again, especially when writing the same kinds of documents.
The Sound of the Latin
I now agree wholeheartedly with Reggie that the glory of Latin comes from its mellifluous harmony, and that nothing is sweeter or more pleasing than the rhythm of Latin sentences. If we want a foolproof example of true beauty, we need only to turn to Latin. Indeed, there is nothing that cannot be found in every sort of writing from which we cannot draw some pleasure. Reggie also dedicates time to the poets, for by reading good poetry his students learn how to smooth out their prose.
More importantly, an understanding of Latin comes from hearing it. In order to relish the gorgeous sound of Latin, one must first understand that it is only through the ears that we can understand a spoken language at all. It is of the very nature of oral communication that, whenever we want to
wrap our minds around something, we first try to encapsulate it into some kind of sound that we can produce with our mouths. Consequently, it is for good reason that we use the word for tongue (lingua) to designate a language rather than the word for hand (manus). While it may be true that scripta manent—“written things endure”—it is equally true that writing would never have existed if it were not for our mouths and ears.
That is why the great American humorist Mark Twain once quipped that he couldn’t care less about a man who could spell a word in only one way. And who can forget Socrates’ censure against writing in his dialogue with Phaedrus? Not only was the philosopher afraid that we would neglect to commit anything to memory that was readily available in books or on the World Wide Web, but that we would also become haughty by thinking we knew things with which we were only vaguely familiar.
Reggie demonstrates again and again that the comprehension of a spoken language comes only through hearing, whenever he refuses to move on to a new passage until someone first reads the passage at hand out loud. That is why even today, before turning some piece of writing over to the superiors in the office, I read it two or three times aloud so that errors may be corrected, rough spots smoothed out, and anything superfluous deleted.
In closing, I must thank the distinguished Father Daniel McCarthy, OSB, for collaborating assiduously with Reggie to give you these “bare bones” for an effective, stimulating, and enduring experience of the Latin language.
Be well.
Msgr. Daniel B. Gallagher Writer
From the Vatican, 1 June 2011
PRAEFATIO prologue
Practical Teaching Advice
“You could read this on the beach!” says Fr. Reginald when surveying the first drafts of this text dictated by him and edited by Daniel McCarthy. A novel of the inner workings and expression of the Latin language, this narrative account could teach Latin as if by reading a novel on the beach. Our teacher’s expletive reminds us that the style of this presentation is discursive and is simply not a grammar. It is not a list of rules and texts to be learned by heart. It is, rather, the voice of the teacher giving an oral account of the living Latin language.
The method and style that Reginald has developed and used over the years helps the teacher of the Latin language carefully to observe the students’ progress, to encourage them to experience the Latin language, and to make it their own: thus the narrative account is its own pedagogical style. Each of the one hundred and five encounters presented here develops from the previous one, and there is plenty of opportunity given for repetition, revision, and consolidation of what has been learned thus far. Learning and teaching the Latin language in this way will not, however, dispense us from thinking clearly or applying ourselves and our intellect to discovery. This method demands a commitment on the part of both teacher and student, so much so that a written “contract” is recommended to clarify what is essential in these encounters.
The book provides the mere bones of Latin along with the living flesh of real Latin literature of authors of every age. The teacher introduces the living voice of these Latin authors and helps the students to see the bones or the structure of the language in these real Latin authors.
It can be done: it has been done Mary Oliver, recent Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, sums up her approach to poetry, life, and faith in a section within the poem “Sometimes.” They are instructions that are applicable to us as we prepare to learn and teach the Latin language in a new way.
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention. Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Latin requires attention, wonder, and communication. Learning and teaching Latin in a new way requires those same disciplines.
Instructions for teaching Latin:
Pay attention. Be astonished
Tell about it
Departing from the familiar manual style
Fear of leaving familiar methods behind is like leaving behind familiar territory for the new. This fear can be a block to the progress of teachers and students alike.
We have met teachers of Latin who are simply not prepared to let go of the Latin grammar they first used as a child or in college. But if teachers wish to continue learning from their ongoing encounter with Latin authors, then we can encourage them to let it go and set out for deeper waters.
Fearing to use another method
Fear of adopting a new pedagogy can be a further block to teachers and students alike, and so we do not suggest replacing one set of rote-learning of tables and grammar with another set of rote-learning. We encourage teachers, rather, to leave that behind in favor of understanding the language and meeting its authors in personal encounter. Indeed, the numbering system for the times of verbs clears the deck of technical verbiage and helps the student to learn the logical sequence of human thought shaped and formed by the Latin expression. We offer every encouragement to be cautiously fearless.
Incorporating a company of voices
As a person returns from the beach refreshed, so too this narrative account of the Latin language provides the insights that will refresh every teacher using whatever method of instruction. But just as time at the beach is not spent alone, this novel introduces teachers to many people and helps the student to join this new company of friends. So, this volume helps the diligent teacher to introduce real Latin authors to students in each personal encounter at every level of experience. In this way the teacher provides flesh to the bones and makes teaching Latin a personal expression developed from the teacher’ patient conversation with this company of voices. It will indeed be a challenge to the teacher to make this introduction to the Language a series of personal encounters rather than mechanical calculations.
Supplementing tried methods
One way of transitioning to the pedagogy of this book is first to supplement accustomed methods of teaching with new material. I suggest first introducing the range of meanings for each verb time in the indicative and subjunctive. In this way students will have direct access to the many English expressions corresponding to the Latin forms to which we then easily assign a number just as an easy reminder; then the teacher and students will be free of the misleading technical terminology. I also suggest that, as the noun and adjective and pronoun functions are introduced, from the beginning it is far easier to speak about the subject and object, rather than nominative and accusative case, and to say the function “of-possession” for the genitive, “tofor-from” for the dative, “by-with-from-in” for the ablative; this gives everyone direct access to the meanings of words without the encumbering technical terminology that ends up filtering the thought process. Once these two simple steps have been mastered by the teacher, further transitions to the method of the book are seamless.
Weaning oneself from grammatical style
This book and the pedagogical method behind it has no lists and tables as in a grammar. Such a style blocks the learning of any language; just think of the way we learned and practiced and perfected our mother tongue. This method follows that pedagogy of our childhood and invites us to play at the beach and to meet new friends there. When we are refreshed by this new company of friends, we will want to introduce them to our students in refreshing ways.
Adopting a narrative account of the Latin language
Just as this book can be “read on the beach,” the lesson plan for each encounter should be well prepared and thought-out for oral delivery in conversational style. This will help the teacher make the encounter more human in style as it introduces the students to the ongoing voice of Latin literature.
To conclude, I turn to the words of Reginald himself:
Why study Latin at all?
“Well,” says Reginald, “it is about three-fourths of our western civilization, for one, and all of our thoughts and ideas and prayers have come to us through Latin. The Enlightenment, Science, the Reformation, it all happened in Latin.”
How to save Latin?
“Latin is saved by teaching well,” Reginald continues. “If you teach music well, you will be converted to the best composers, and you will turn to the
most inspiring artists. If Latin is taught well, you will have not ten seconds of boredom, and you will convert your students to this adventure.”
James G. Leachman
Institutum Liturgicum, London
Ealing Abbey, London
KU Leuven, Belgium
Another random document with no related content on Scribd:
“The marriage system all over the world, from the earliest ages till now, is a barrier in the way of such true union. That is why woman’s shakti, in all existing societies, is so shamefully wasted and corrupted. That is why in every country marriage is still more or less of a prison-house for the confinement of women— with all its guards wearing the badge of the dominant male. That is why man, by dint of his efforts to bind woman, has made her the strongest of fetters for his own bondage. That is why woman is debarred from adding to the spiritual wealth of society by the perfection of her own nature, and all human societies are weighed down with the burden of the resulting poverty.
“The civilization of man has not, up to now, loyally recognized the reign of the spirit. Therefore the married state is still one of the most fruitful sources of the unhappiness and downfall of man, of his disgrace and humiliation. But those who believe that society is a manifestation of the spirit will assuredly not rest in their endeavors till they have rescued human marriage relations from outrage by the brute forces of society—till they have thereby given free play to the force of love in all the concerns of humanity.”
Such is the Hindu poet’s explanation of the ideals underlying the institution of marriage in the communal society of the Hindus. One feels through his closing lines the poet’s sorrow at the sight of the misery caused by a wrong conception of marriage throughout the civilized world. The poet cherishes, however, the fond hope that a day of the reign of spirit will dawn over the world, when mankind will recognize the necessity of giving to the forces of love a free play in the wide concerns of life.
Marriage in India involves two separate ceremonies. The first ceremony is the more elaborate, and judging from the permanent character of its obligations, the more important. It is performed amid much festivity and show. The bridal party, consisting of the bridegroom with his chief relatives and friends, goes to the bride’s home in an elaborate musical procession. There the party is handsomely feasted as guests of the bride for one or more days,
according to the means of the host. The groom furnishes the entertainment, which consists of music, acrobatic dancing, jugglers’ tricks, fireworks, and so forth. The day is spent in simple outdoor amusements like hunting, horseback riding, swimming, or gymnastic plays, the nature of the sport depending upon the surroundings. In the evening, by the light of the fireworks, and in the midst of a large crowd of near relatives and spectators, the ceremony of the “union,” namely, the spiritual unification of the near relatives of the bride and the bridegroom, is staged in a highly picturesque manner. In order of their relation to the bride and groom—father of the bride with the father of the bridegroom, first uncle of the one with the first uncle of the other, and so forth—the near relatives of the future couple embrace each other and exchange head-dresses as a symbol of eternal friendship. Each such pledge of friendship is beautifully harmonized with a song and a blessing from the daughters of the village. Later in the evening, the girls lead the guests to the bridal feast, singing in chorus on their march the “Welcome Home.”
Marriage in the Indian home is thus an occasion of great rejoicing. The atmosphere that prevails throughout the entire ceremony is one of extreme wholesomeness and joy Nothing could surpass the loveliness and charm that surrounds the evening march to the bridal feast. The pretty maidens of the village, who are conscious of their dignity as personifications of the Deity and are inspired with a devoted love for their sister bride, come in their gay festival dresses, with mingled feelings of pride and modesty, to lead the procession with a song; their eyes moistened with slowly gathering tears of deep and chaste emotion, and their faces wrapped in ever changing blushes, give to the whole picture a distinctive flavor of an inspiring nature. On the following morning the couple are united in marriage by the officiating priest, who reads from the scriptures while the husband and wife pace together the seven steps. The vow of equal comradeship which is taken by both the husband and the wife on this occasion reads thus:
“Become thou my partner, as thou hast paced all the seven steps with me.... Apart from thee I cannot live. Apart from me do thou not live. We shall live together; we each shall be an object
of love to the other; we shall be a source of joy each unto the other; with mutual goodwill shall we live together.”[18]
The marriage ceremony being over, the bridal party departs with the bride for the bridegroom’s home. On this first trip the bride is accompanied by a maid, and the two return home together after an overnight’s stay. The bride then remains at her parental home until the performance of the second ceremony. The interval between the two ceremonies varies from a few days to several years, depending mainly upon the ages of the married couple and the husband’s ability to support a home.
This dual ceremonial has been the cause of a great deal of confusion in the western mind. To all appearances the first ceremony is the more important as it is termed marriage. After it the bride begins to dress and behave like a married woman, but the couple do not begin to live together until the second ceremony has also been performed, and these two acts may be separated from each other by a considerably long period. In other words the so-called marriage of the Hindu girl is nothing but “an indefeasible betrothal in the western sense.” The custom of early marriage (or betrothal, to be more exact) has existed in some parts of the country from earlier times, but it became more common during the period of the Mohammedan invasions into India. These foreign invaders were in the habit of forcibly converting to Islam the beautiful Hindu maidens, whom they later married. But no devout Mohammedan ever injures or thinks evil towards a married woman. His religion strictly forbids such practice. Thus, to safeguard the honor of their young daughters the Hindus adopted this custom of early marriage.
The girl’s marriage, however, makes no change in her life. She continues to live with her parents as before, and is there taught under her mother’s supervision the elementary duties of a household. She is instructed at the same time in other matters concerning a woman’s life. When she becomes of an age to take upon herself the responsibilities of married life, the second marriage ceremony is finished and she departs for her new home.
It is true that the standard of education among East Indian women as compared with that of other countries is appallingly low. We shall leave the discussion of the various political factors which have contributed to this deplorable state of things for a later chapter. For the present it will be sufficient to point out that even though the Indian girl is illiterate and unable to read and write, she is not uninstructed or uninformed in the proper sense of the word education.
She knows how to cook, to sew, to embroider, and to do every other kind of household work. She is fully informed concerning matters of hygiene and sex. In matters intellectual her mind is developed to the extent that “she understands thoroughly the various tenets of her religion and is quite familiar with Hindu legends and the subject matter in the epic literature of India.”
My mother was the daughter of a village carpenter. She was brought up in the village under the exclusive guidance of her mother and did not have any school education. Mother, in her turn, has reared seven children who have all grown to be perfectly healthy and normal boys and girls. Even though we could easily afford a family doctor, we never had one. Mother seemed to know so much about hygienic and medical science that she did not need a doctor Her little knowledge she had acquired from her own mother; it consisted of a few simple rules, which she observed very faithfully. As little children, we were required to clean our teeth with a fresh twig, to be individually chewed into a brush, every morning before breakfast, and to wash the mouth thoroughly with water after each meal. For the morning teeth cleaning we were supplied with twigs from a special kind of tree which leaves in the mouth a very pleasant taste and contains juices of a beneficial nature. Also, chewing a small twig every morning gives good exercise to the teeth and furnishes the advantage of a new brush each time. We were told that dirty teeth were unmannerly and hurt a person’s eyesight and general heath. A cold water bath once a day and washing of both hands before and after each meal were other fundamental requirements.
For every kind of family sickness, whether it was a headache, a fever, a cold in the head, or a bad cough, the prescription was always the same. A mixture of simple herbs was boiled in water and given to the patient for drinking. Its only effect was a motion of the bowels. It was not a purgative, but had very mild and wholesome laxative properties without any after reactions. Fasting during sickness was highly recommended. In nearly every month occurred some special festival day on which the whole family fasted. This fast had a purifying effect on the systems of growing children. As another precautionary measure, my mother prepared for the children, every winter, a special kind of preserve from a bitter variety of black beans, which is supposed to possess powerful blood-purifying properties. With the exception of quinine during malarial epidemics, we were never given any drugs whatsoever. These simple medicines, combined with a fresh vegetable diet for every day in the year, constituted my mother’s only safeguards against family sickness. And from my knowledge I know that her system worked miraculously well.
During pregnancy it is customary to surround the young girl with every precaution. She returns to her parental home in order to secure freedom from sexual intercourse during that period. In the months before my eldest sister bore her first child, I remember how she was instructed not to permit herself to be excited in any way. Pictures of the ideal wife, Sita, and of national heroes and heroines were hung all over the house for my sister to look at and admire. She was freed from all household responsibilities in order that she could devote her time to reading good stories from the Hindu epics. Every kind of irritant, like pepper and spices, was rigidly excluded from her diet, and after the child was born she refrained from injudicious combinations of food until the child was a year or more old.
Every night at bedtime my mother had a new story to tell the children, a story which she herself had heard at bedtime when she was young. These stories were drawn from the great Hindu epics, and there was always a useful maxim connected with them. The tale was told to bring home to the growing children some moral maxim like truthfulness, fidelity to a pledge once given, conjugal happiness,
and respect for parents. In this manner the children in the most ignorant homes become familiar with the ethical teachings of their nation and with the hypotheses underlying their respective religions. Almost everyone in India down to the most ignorant countrywoman understands the subtle meaning of such intricate Hindu doctrines as the laws of Karma, the theory of reincarnation, and the philosophy of Maya.
As was stated earlier in this chapter, much misinformation about the so-called child marriage has been spread by ignorant missionaries, and has been eagerly swallowed by most western readers. It may be well to observe here that the two expressions “child marriage” and “early marriage” are very widely apart in meaning. The psychological impressions conveyed by the two expressions are distinctly different. If the first ceremony of the Hindu marriage is to be taken as meaning marriage, what is practised in India perhaps more than anywhere else in the world is early marriage and not child marriage. Even at that, early marriage is essentially wrong in principle. Its usefulness in earlier times, when it was first recommended by the Hindu lawgivers as a necessary measure to preserve the communal life of the nation, cannot be denied.
Like many other laws of those times, it has outlived its usefulness, and through the influence of many corruptions which have been added to the practice during ages, it has become a curse to the country. This fact is frankly admitted by the leaders of modern India. In the writings and speeches of the most prominent among them the custom of early marriage has been condemned as a “deadly vermin in Hindu social life,” and a “ghastly form of injustice.” Beginning with the days of the eminent Hindu reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the whole literature of social and religious reform in India is full of loud and emphatic denunciations of early marriage.
As a result of the untiring, self-sacrificing efforts of Hindu reformers a great measure of success has already been achieved. The Hindu girl’s age of marriage has been steadily increasing during the last fifty years. According to figures from the official Census Report of India (1921) only 399 out of every 1000 girls were married at the end
of their fifteenth year In other words, 60 per cent of Indian girls remained unmarried at the beginning of their sixteenth year. Moreover, in the official records of India every girl who has passed through the first ceremony of her marriage is included in the married class. If we allow a little further concession on account of the warmer climate of India, which has the tendency to lower the age of maturity in girls, we shall concede that the present conditions in India in respect to early marriage are not strikingly different from those in most European countries. At the same time it must not be forgotten that in India sex life begins invariably after marriage, and never before marriage. Those familiar with the conditions in the western countries know that such is not always the rule there.
One evening the writer was talking in rather favorable terms to a small group of friends about the Hindu system of marriage. While several nodded their habitual, matter-of-fact, courteous assent, one young lady (Dorothy), a classmate and an intimate friend, suddenly said in an impatient tone, “This is all very foolish. By using those sweet expressions in connection with the Hindu family life you do not mean to tell me that marriage between two strangers, who have never met in life before, or known each other, can be ever happy or just. ‘Felicity,’ ‘peace,’ ‘harmony,’ ‘wedded love,’ ‘idealization of the husband’—this is all bunk. That you should approve the blindfold yoking together for life of innocent children in indefeasible marriage, is outrageous. The system is shocking; it is a sin against decency. It is war against the most sacred of human instincts and emotions, and as such I shall condemn it as criminal and uncivilized.” Yet the young lady was in no sense of the word unsympathetic or unfriendly to India. She is, and has always been, a great friend and admirer of India.
Dorothy is not much of a thinker, but she is very liberal and likes to be called a radical. You could discuss with her any subject whatsoever, even Free Love and Birth Control, with perfect ease and lack of restraint. She is twenty-five years of age and unmarried. She has been “in love” several times, but for one reason or the other she has not yet found her ideal man. She would not tell this to everybody, but to one of her boy friends, “whose big blue eyes had poetic
inspiration in them,” and who seemed to be fine and good and true in every way, better than the best she had ever met before, and whom she loved quite genuinely, she had given herself completely on one occasion. This happened during a week-end trip to the mountains, and was the first and last of her sexual experience. She said it was the moral as well as the physical feast of her life. Later she saw him flirting in a doubtful manner with a coarse Spanish girl, which made him loathsome in her eyes. Gradually her love for him began to dwindle, until it died off completely, leaving behind, however, a deep mortal scar in her spiritual nature. For a period, Dorothy thought she could never love any man again, until she began to admire a young college instructor in a mild fashion. He is, however, “so kind and intelligent and different from the rest,” with a fine physique and handsome face—his powerful forehead setting so beautifully against his thick curly hair—that she calls magnificent. It matters little that he is married, because she writes him the most enchanting letters. Dorothy’s love for the handsome professor is platonic. She says it will exist forever, even though she entertains no hope of ever marrying him. Yet while she talked about her latest “ideal,” a stream of tears gathered slowly in her big luminous eyes. They were the tears of hopeless resignation. Dorothy is beautiful, and possesses rare grace and charm of both body and mind. She is well situated in the business world, and is not in want of men admirers. But yet she is unhappy, extremely unhappy. She has had the freedom, but no training to make proper use of it. While she was still in her early teens she started going on picnic parties with different boys. Under the impulse of youthful passion she learned to kiss any one and every one in an indiscriminate fashion. This destroyed the sanctity of her own moral and spiritual nature, and also killed, at the same time, her respect for the male sex. Sacredness of sex and respect for man being thus destroyed in her early years, she could not easily find an ideal husband in later life. If she had been a stupid creature with no imagination and no deep finer feelings she would have fallen suddenly in love anywhere—there to pass the rest of her humdrum and joyless existence in an everlasting stupor. Surely Dorothy did not remember her own tragedy when she condemned the lot of the
Hindu girls in such vehement manner Vanity is an ugly fault, yet it gives great pleasure.
Unlike India, where from their very childhood girls are initiated into matters of sex, and where the ideal of acquiring a husband and a family is kept before their minds from the beginning, American boys and girls are brought up in utter ignorance of every thing pertaining to sex. Sex is considered as something unclean, filthy, and nauseous, and so unworthy of the attention and thought of young children. And yet there is no country in the world where sex is kept more prominently before the public eye in every walk of daily life than in America. The first impression which a stranger landing in America gets is of the predominance of sex in its daily life. The desire of the American woman to show her figure to what Americans call “the coarse eye of man,” expresses itself in short skirts and tight dresses. “American movies are made with no other purpose in view than to emphasize sex.” A college professor was recently told by one of the six biggest directors of motion pictures in Hollywood, through whose hands passed a business amounting to millions of dollars, that in making a motion picture sex must constantly be borne in mind. The story must be based on that knowledge, scenes selected with this view, and the plot executed with that thought in mind. Vaudeville shows, one of America’s national amusements, are nothing but a suggestive display of the beautiful legs of young girls, who appear on the stage scantily dressed and touch their foreheads with the toes in a highly suggestive manner.
The writer was told by an elderly American lady that the American national dances had a deep religious connotation. A spiritual thought may exist behind American music, and its effect on the American youth may be quite uplifting, but certainly such dances as the one called “Button shining dance,” in which a specially close posture is necessary, was invented with no high spiritual end in view. A wholesale public display of bare legs to the hips, and a close view of the rest of their bodies in tight bathing suits may be seen on the national beaches. Young couples lie on the sands in public view closely locked in seemingly everlasting embraces.
While all this may be very pure, innocent, harmless, and even uplifting in its hidden nature, its outward and more prevalent character indicates an almost vicious result of the ideal of bringing up the nation’s youth improperly instructed in matters of sex and its proper function.
The immediate effect of this anomalous condition in America resulting from the misinstruction regarding sex by its youth on the one hand, and the most exaggerated prominence given sex in its national life is particularly disastrous and excessively humiliating. Using the word moral in its popular conventional meaning, it may be very frankly said that the morals of the American youth are anything but exemplary. Judge Ben B. Lindsey, who is fully authorized to speak on the subject from his experience as head of the Juvenile court in Denver for over twenty-five years, and who is one of the keenest contemporary thinkers in America, has stated facts in his book, The Revolt of Modern Youth, which are appalling. He writes:
“The first item in the testimony of the high school students is that of all the youth who go to parties, attend dances, and ride together in automobiles, more than 90 per cent indulge in hugging and kissing. This does not mean that every girl lets any boy hug and kiss her, but that she is hugged and kissed.
“The second part of the message is this. At least 50 per cent of those who begin with hugging and kissing do not restrict themselves to that, but go further, and indulge in other sex liberties which, by all the conventions, are outrageously improper.
“Now for the third part of the message. It is this: Fifteen to twenty-five per cent of those who begin with the hugging and kissing eventually ‘go the limit.’ This does not, in most cases, mean either promiscuity or frequency, but it happens.”[19]
This situation is alarming, and the leaders of the country must take immediate notice of it. When fifteen to twenty-five girls out of every hundred in any country indulge in irresponsible sexual relationships
between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, that country is not in a healthy moral condition. The effect of these early sexual intimacies between young girls and boys is ruinous to their later spiritual growth. How the situation may be remedied is a serious problem, which is not the task of any foreigner, however honest and friendly, to solve.
It may be of value to point out here how the Hindu thinkers sought to control this situation. We quoted above the frank opinion of an American college girl regarding the Hindu system of marriage. The ill opinion of the Hindu system of marriage held by most westerners, springs, however, not from their knowledge of the situation, but from its very novelty, and from the dissociation of the name romance from its system. The western method of marriage emphasizes freedom for the individual, and as such its fundamental basis is both noble and praiseworthy. From the exercise of freedom have developed some of the finest traits of character; freedom, in fact, has been the source of inspiration for the highest achievements of the human race. But freedom in sex relationship without proper knowledge transforms itself into license, as its exercise in the commercial relationships of the world without sympathy and vision develops into tyranny An illustration of the former consequence may be seen in the disastrous effect of the wrong kind of freedom on the morals of the American youth; the slums of the industrial world are the results of the laissez faire policy when it is allowed to proceed unchecked, on its reckless career.
In India marriage is regarded as a necessity in life; in the case of woman it is the most conclusive of all incidents, the one action to which all else in life is subsidiary. From marriage springs not only her whole happiness, but on it also depends the fulfilment of her very life. Marriage to a woman is a sacrament—an entrance into the higher and holier regions of love and consecration—and motherhood is to her a thing of pride and duty. From childhood she has been trained to be the ideal of the husband whom marriage gives her. Dropping longingly into the embrace of her husband with almost divine confidence in his protection and love, she begins to look at the whole universe in a different light. “Are the heavens and the earth so
suddenly transformed? Do the birds and trees, the stars and the heavens above, take on a more brilliant coloring, and the wind begin to murmur a sweeter music?” Or is it true that she is herself transformed at the gentle touch of him who is henceforth to be her lord?
So limitless is the power of human emotion that we can create in our own imagination scenes of a joyful existence, which, when they are finally realized, bring about miraculous changes in us almost overnight. This miracle is no fiction; it is a reality. An overnight’s blissful acquaintance with her husband has altered the constitution of many a girl’s body and given to her figure nobler curves. I have seen my own sister given in marriage, a girl of 18, a slender, playful, fond child with barely a sign of womanhood in her habits and carriage; and after a month when I went for a visit to her home I found it difficult to recognize my own sister. How suddenly had the marital union transformed her! In the place of a slender, sprightly girl was now a plump woman with a blooming figure, seeming surcharged with radiant energy; in the place of a straight childish look in the eyes there was a look of happiness, wisdom, understanding that was inspiring and ennobling. The atmosphere around my sister, once a girl, now a woman, was of such a divine character and her appearance expressed such exquisite joy that I fell spontaneously into her arms, and before we separated our eyes were wet with tears of joy. Seeing my sister so beautiful and so happy, I was happy; and in her moment of supreme joy her brother, the beloved companion of early days, became doubly dear to her. Some moments in our lives are difficult, nay, impossible to forget. This experience was of so illuminating a nature that it is still as vivid in my mind as if it had happened yesterday.
The explanation is very simple. In the mind of my sister, as in the mind of every other Indian girl, the idea of a husband had been uppermost since her very childhood. Around his noble appearance, fine carriage, and handsome expression she must have woven many a beautiful story. Each time she saw one of her girl friends given in marriage to a “flower-crowned bridegroom, dressed in saffroncolored clothes, riding in procession on a decorated horse,” and
accompanied by music and festivity, she must have dreamed. And then when the ideal of her childhood was realized, no wonder she found in his company that height of emotional exaltation which springs from the proper union of the sexes and is the noblest gift of God to man. The American girl thinks my sister married a stranger, but she had married an ideal, a creation of her imagination, and a part of her own being.
The wise Hindu system which keeps the idea of a husband before the girls from their childhood will not be easily understood by the conventional western mind. Those who consider sex as something “unclean and filthy” and have formed the conviction that its thoughts and its very name must be strictly kept away from growing children must learn two fundamental truths. In the first place, nothing in sex is filthy or unclean; on the other hand, sex is “the purest and the loveliest thing in life and if properly managed is emotionally exalting and highly uplifting for our moral and spiritual development.”[20] Secondly, to imagine that by maintaining a conspiracy of silence on the subject of sex one can exclude its thought totally from the lives of growing children is to betray in the grossest form ignorance of natural laws.
In India, however, sex is considered a necessary part of a healthy individual’s life; it is a sacred and a lovely thing; and, as such, it is to be carefully examined and carefully cultivated. The sexual impulse is recognized as the strongest of human impulses, and any attempt to thwart it by outside force must result in disaster to the individual and in ruin to social welfare. To overcome sex hunger by keeping people ignorant of it is the meanest form of hypocrisy. To deny facts is not to destroy them. It is not only stupid but cowardly to imagine that one could make people moral and spiritual by keeping them ignorant and superstitious. Show them the light, and they will find their own way Teach children the essentials of life, encourage in them the habit of independent thought, show them by example and precept the beauties of moral grandeur, and they will develop within themselves the good qualities of self-respect and self-restraint which will further insure against many pitfalls. Says the Hindu proverb: “A woman’s
best guard is her own virtue.” Virtue is a thing which must spring from within and can never be imposed from the outside.
The atmosphere in the Hindu household and the attitude of the elder members of the family to each other is of such a nature that the boys and girls gradually become aware of the central facts of nature. In fact, no attempt is made to hide from the children anything about their life functions. The subjects of marriage and child birth are freely discussed in the family gatherings. Children are never excluded when a brother or sister is born, and no one tells them stories of little babies brought in baskets by the doctors or by storks. Whenever the growing children ask curious questions about physiological facts, they are given the necessary information to the extent that it will be intelligible to them.
The experience in India has clearly demonstrated the fact that if young boys and girls are properly instructed in the laws of nature, and if the knowledge is backed up by the right kind of moral stimulus and idealism, these young people can be relied upon to develop invincible powers of self-restraint and self-respect. Such boys and girls will have noble aspirations and will grow into fine-spirited men and women of healthy moral character and of unquestionable poise.
The writer has no desire to eulogize the Hindu system of marriage, or to disparage the Occidental. An attempt has been made to diagnose the prevalent consequences of two systems. The Hindu customs certainly need modification in view of the rapid economic and social changes; the western system displays a deplorable lack of adjustment to new conditions in those countries. The writer merely asks the reader to remember that just because a system is different, it need not be outrageous.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Katherine Mayo.
[14] Quoted from Cousins—Awakening of Asian Womanhood, page 40.
[15] Coomaraswamy
[16] Coomaraswamy—Dance of Siva, page 88.
[17] Tagore.
[18] Quoted from Cousins—The Awakening of Asian Womanhood, page 38.
[19] Pages 56, 59, 62.
[20] Ben B. Lindsey.
C III
THE CIVILIZATION AND ETHICS OF INDIA
The distinctive feature of Hindu culture is its femininity. While the northern branch of the Aryan family represented by the European group had to undergo hard struggle with unyielding nature on account of a barren soil and the severity of cold climate, which developed in them the masculine qualities of aggressiveness, force, and exertion, the southern branch of the Aryan family, who migrated into the smiling valleys of the Indus and the Ganges, found in their new home abundance of physical comfort. The extreme fertility of soil and the warm climate made existence easy and left them leisure for speculation and thought—conditions which have tended to make the people of India emotional, meditative, and mystic. The bounty of nature released them from struggle, and the resulting freedom from material cares and security of existence developed in the Hindu character the benevolent qualities of tolerance and thankfulness.[21]
The peace-loving nature of the Hindu mind shows itself in its early ventures into the study of the higher and deeper problems of life. When they began to inquire into the secrets of the universe and its relationship to human life with a view to discovering the mystery of our existence on this planet, they were dominated solely by an absolute and unqualified love of truth. “They never quarreled about their beliefs or asked any questions about individual faiths. Their only ambition was to acquire knowledge of the universe,—of its origin and cause,—and to understand the whence and whither, the who and what of the human soul.” The early pioneers of Hindu thought lay down for rest on the open, fertile plains of the Ganges during the fragrant summer nights of India, and their eyes sought the starry heavens above. Then they looked into themselves, and must have asked, “What are we? What is this life on earth meant for? How did we come here? Where are we bound for? What becomes of the
human soul?” and many another difficult question. The answer that the Hindu sages of old gave to these difficult questions is to be found in the one simple rule of the Unity of All Life: One Supreme Being is the source of all joy; He is the master of all knowledge; He is eternal, stainless, unchangeable, and always present as a witness in every conscience; He alone is real and lasting, and the rest of this material universe is maya, a mere illusion. Human soul is made of the same substance as the Supreme soul. It is separated from its source through ignorance. Through succeeding incarnations it strives to reach its ultimate goal, which is its identification with the Supreme Being. That is the final end of all human effort—the realization of the Self—which accomplished, man’s existence becomes one with the rest of the Universe, and his life thereafter is one of limitless love. His soul unites with the Universal soul and he has obtained his Moksha (salvation). He begins to see “All things in self and self in All.”
This idea of spiritual freedom, which is the release of the self from the ego concept, forms the foundation of Hindu culture, and has influenced the whole character of India’s social and religious ideals. Let us try to explain it a little more clearly The recognition of the unity of all life assumes the existence of one God, “one source, one essence and one goal.” The final purpose of life is to realize this unity, when the human soul becomes one with the Universal Spirit. Ignorance is the cause of all evil, because it forever hides from us the true vision. The wise man continually strives to overcome ignorance through the study of philosophy and through self-restraint and renunciation. He seeks to achieve knowledge of Self, in order that he may see God face to face. Then he will attain Moksha (salvation). Until he has realized the absolute Truth, he must hold on to the relative truth as he sees it, which is accomplished through the exercise of such virtues as universal love, faith, devotion, selfsacrifice, and renunciation.
“Despising everything else, a wise man should strive after the knowledge of the Self.”
Human life on this earth is a journey from one village to the other We are all pilgrims here, and this abode is only our temporary home and not a permanent residence. Instead of being continually in search of material wealth, of power, of fame, and of toiling day and night, why should we not regard life as a perpetual holiday and learn to rest and enjoy it? Would it not be better if we had a little less of work, a little less of so-called pleasure, and more of thought and peace? It does not take much to sustain life; vegetable food in small quantities will maintain the body in good health, and the shelter of a cottage is all that a man requires. That he should build palaces and amass riches proves his lack of knowledge; that he should try to find happiness from the ruin of the happiness of his fellow beings, the inevitable consequence of the building up of great fortunes, is absurd. Nothing is real except His law and His power. Human life, like a bubble on the surface of a mighty ocean, may burst and disappear at any moment. “There is fruit on the trees in every forest, which everyone who likes may pluck without trouble. There is cool and sweet water in the pure rivers here and there. There is a soft bed made of the twigs of the beautiful creepers. And yet wretched people suffer pain at the door of the rich.”
“A man seeking for eternal happiness (moksha) might obtain it by a hundredth part of the suffering which a foolish man endures in the pursuit of riches.”
“Poor men eat more excellent bread than the rich; for hunger gives it sweetness.”
Thus the doctrine of Maya has taught the people of India that all material things are illusion.
Thus, guided by the vision of Universal Spirit, which sustains the entire creation, and saved by the right comprehension of the doctrine of Maya, the Hindus have developed a civilization in which people are inspired largely by the ideals of human fellowship, by love and by spiritual comfort. The wisdom of the Hindu’s retiring, passive attitude toward life will not readily be acknowledged by his sturdy, aggressive, and combative brothers in the western world. The
Occidental’s necessities of life have assumed such immense proportions, and social relations have become so intricate and insecure, that a man’s whole life is spent in making sure of mere existence, and in providing against the accidents of the future. Such is the deadening influence of the continual hurly-burly of every-day life around him, that he has begun to regard life as synonymous with work. He has never himself tasted the sweetness of security and peace, and when he hears anyone else discuss it, he is likely to brand the doctrine as dreamy, unreal, and impractical. “But is it surely wise to destroy the best objects of life for the sake of life? Is the winning of wealth and the enjoying of pleasure always a superior choice to that of spiritual freedom?” To love leisure, ideals, and peace has been the criterion of Hindu wisdom. Those who have closely studied the history of the Hindu nation know the illumination, the peace, the joy, the strength that its lessons bring into the lives of those simple, virtuous people.
Hindu civilization has been, on the whole, humane and wholesome, and the life of the people of India has been one of unalloyed usefulness and service to humanity. India has always been the home of various religions and its people have always been divided into innumerable faiths. At no period of its long history, however, has religious persecution been practised by any class of people in the country. “No war was ever waged in or outside of India by the Hindu nation in the name of religion. India has never witnessed the horrors of an inquisition; no holy wars were undertaken, and no heretics burned alive for the protection of religion.” In the entire history of the Hindu nation, not a drop of blood has ever been shed in the name of religion. To those who have read the accounts of the bloody tortures and the massacres that have been enacted for the sake of religion among the Christian nations of the world, this is saying much.
The hobby of the Hindu is not Catholicism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, or any other form of ism known to the western world; his interest does not lie in Hinduism, Buddhism, or Sikhism. His passion is for religion. “He loves not a religion; he lives for religion.” It was his love of religion which an old English missionary found among the inhabitants of a small village in Northern India. Tired from walking in
the hot summer sun, this wandering friar lay down under the cool shade of a banyan tree for rest, and fell asleep. How long he slept and what brilliant dreams of His Master Lord Christ’s mercy this humble mendicant had, no one knows. When in the late afternoon he opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful young girl gently fanning his face, while her little brother stood near, carrying in his arms a basket of choice fruits and a jug of fresh, cool water. As the old friar’s eyes finally met the maiden’s kindly gaze, he exclaimed: “At last after all these weary travels I have found a Christian people!”
Religion to the Hindu is not one among the many interests in life. It is the all-absorbing interest. The thought of a Universal Brotherhood taught in his religion guides every social, commercial, and political act of his life; while the hope of divine sanction inspires his efforts in the intellectual and spiritual spheres. Religion is not the mere profession of a certain theological faith, whose ritual may be observed on appointed occasions and then be forgotten till time again comes for worship and prayer. Religion is the “Yearning beyond” on the part of man, and when once its essence is realized, the spirit must influence every interest of the individual’s life. This is the way in which religion is understood in India. “It is not a matter of form, but of mind and will. To the Hindu, it is more religious to cleanse the soul and build a good character than to mutter prayers and observe a strict ritual. Morality should form the basis of religion, and emphasis should be laid, not on outward observance, but on inward spiritual culture.”
“By deed, thought, and word, one should do good to (all) living beings. This Harsha declared to be the highest way of earning religious merit.”
The main purpose of life is the realization of Self, to which all other interests must be completely subordinated. The material things of the world are but a means to this end; and the end being religion, its thought must not be lost sight of in arranging the details of life. Hence, religion pervades the entire fabric of Hindu society. Study Indian art, law, ethics, and political economy; everywhere you will
