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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1898)
NEW HAVEN, CONN., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1898. Prick Tren Cents. You. VitE= Ne A PROGRESSIVE DEPARTMENT. A Sketch of English at Yale in the Past and Present, The growing interest in the study of the English Language and Literature is one of the most important facts in the history of modern education. years ago, in nearly every college, there was a chair of Rhetoric and English Literature. Its occupants gave instruc- tion in Rhetoric and Composition, in some cases, in Declamation, and in a very limited way, in Literary Criticism. Courses in Phonetics, in Old and Middle English, and in Comparative Literature, were practically unknown. In the field of criticism, a vast body of English writers were as good as for- gotten, or accessible only in rare edi- tions, beyond the reach of the student. In 1848, the English Department at Yale was embodied in the person of Professor Larned. Professor Goodrich gave a course in Eloquence, but he did not properly belong to the Academic Faculty. The courses in English in Freshman year consisted in “Lectures on the structure of the Language and Composition.” In Sophomore year, “Elocution, Declamation, and Composi- tion,” and in Senior year, ‘Forensic Disputations.”” One looks in vain for announcements of courses in Shakes- peare and the Drama, in Milton and his contemporaries, in our Modern Poetry,—in a word, of what are called to-day, literary coureses. On the other hand, in the field of Language Yale was building up the reputation she still enjoys. The first great contribution in the field of Eng- lish work was Noah Webster’s Ameri- can Dictionary of the English Lan- guage. Compiled by a graduate of the Class of Seventeen Seventy-Eight, it has been distinctively a Yale production. Revised by Professor Goodrich, and later by President Porter, with Pro- fessors Thacher, Hadley, Dana, Gilman, and Whitney as prominent contributors to it, it will stand as a splendid memo- rial of Yale scholarship. That Professor Whitney should have been chosen as the editor of the Cen- tury Dictionary, shows that Yale has continued her leadership in this work. Apart from his labors in these Diction- aries, Professor Whitney showed his interest in English studies by his Eng- lish Grammar, a modest but valuable contribution, on scientific principles, to school text-books, and the English De- partment can justly claim some share in Professor Whitney’s achievements. Professor Hadley, also, devoted sev- eral of his Philological essays to Eng- lish, and though .these contributions were not numerous, they were exceed- ingly valuable.. In Webster’s Diction- ary, he published a brief, clear and simple history of the English Language. This undoubtedly suggested toProfessor Lounsbury his own well-known work on the same subject, and thus the scholarly tradition of the past has been continued in the present time. The work which Yale was accom- plishing in Language studies, serves to emphasize her neglect in providing am- ple instruction in Literature and Belles Lettres, and, as has been stated, this characterized not only Yale, but her sister colleges. This neglect of our own writers might have continued for a number of decades, had not the Ger- man scholars turned their attention to this rich field for research. In many cases, they were actually pioneers and discoverers. Their work stimulated Fifty PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ELEVEN AND SUBSTITUTES. Bartlett. H. Lathrope, Beam. Pell. Montgomery. Black. Beardsley. Kinney. Poe. Reiter. Knight. ne, Craig. Duncan. Roper. Wheeler. Ayres. Crowdis. G. Lathrope. ills. eer. Palmer. Watkins. Rosengarten. Hillebrand (Capt.) Filson. Booth. Edwards. English and American scholars, and gave to the Universities of Germany the prestige in English studies which they still enjoy. For several years, the movement, if so it may be called, grew slowly, but within the past decade, the work in English in American schools and colleges has made remarkable pro- gress. That our mother tongue, that our national writers should receive the same careful attention paid to the Clas- sical and modern European Literatures, is now accepted as a self-evident propo- sition, and to-day, the English Depart- ment is one of the most prominent fea- tures of the modern university. It is not to be supposed that Yale has been a laggard in this movement, and it is only necessary to go back to the catalogue of 1892 to show the great advance that has been made. ACADEMICAL DEPARTMENT FACULTY. In the Fall of that year, the English Faculty in the Academical Department consisted of three men, Prof. Beers, Prof. Cook and Prof. McLaughlin. The two former devoted their time to the Senior and Junior classes, offering in all eight full courses, aggregating fifteen hours. For the two lower classes there was but one instructor, Prof. McLaughlin. Necessarily, there could be no English in Freshman year, and in Sophomore year, but four months’ work with each section of the class. That Prof. McLaughlin, under these extremely discouraging condi- tions, could arouse a deep interest in English studies, is but one of the many proofs of his rare ability and the great loss the college sustained in his death. At the present time, there are nine (Continued on 64th page.) TEAM WILL BE FIT. Camp Says a Steadier Defense Has Been Developed. Mr. The coaches are back in numbers even at the expense of business de- mands. stronger than material cares. To say that these men have put new life into the team is to tell but half the story. Under their work the men who will go into the Princeton game, are getting together and showing rapidly inprov- ing form. Injuries make careful hand- ling of some of the players necessary and this militates against securing the full value of the coaching, but it looks now as if the men would all be in shape to go into the game. The team’s offensive plays will be very limited in variety, but they will be performed with plenty of spirit. The defense is im- proving. very rapidly and the line is already far steadier than a week ago. WALTER CAMP. The Team’s Departure. The Yale players will leave here at four o’clock to-morrow afternoon and the University will meet at Osborn Hall to cheer them off. The night will be spent at the Murray Hill Hotel. New York. Saturday morning at 9.20 the squad will leave in special parlor cars for Princeton, where they will take lunch at the Princeton Inn. They will leave for New York immediately after the game, returning to New Haven Sunday afternoon. Sentiment has at last proven ~ Probabie Line-up. YALE. PRINCETON. Sx #¢ 2 o = = J = = Ex 2 : = =) Ss ° for) ° Q a | EK wD (oe) ar) = oS ea ma | , mM <I = ¢ Seat : ax SK Ek HOHE * S) R s Ph E @ = aS GS ¢ gS @ ro) ex +4 ° fae} fuate > S $s a a * + 3 =) cI D A = 2 8x to = ° we len Bie 2 ae) ei 2, ae 2 & 0 S a Train Service to Princeton. The annual Yale-Princeton football game will be played at Brokaw Field, Princeton, Saturday afternoon, Novem- ber 12, at two o'clock. This will be the first championship game played at Princeton since the
