Greek has at last ceased to be a compulsory subject
in Respon- sions at Oxford. Convocation settled the old controversy on Tuesday by 434 votes to 369—a heavy poll which showed the keen interest taken in the matter by graduates. It was dear to the outer world that the mere retention of elementary Greek in the Oxford entrance examination would not seriously affect the teaching of Greek in schools, and that It might divert to other Universities many boys and girls who had not studied Greek. We believe in the supreme value of the classics for the training of the mind. The Greek ideals of truth and beauty, of clear and dispassionate thinking and accurate expression, need to be kept steadily before this troubled and confused generation. We are quite sure that Oxford will continue to fulfil its mission as a home of classical students all the better now that It has ceased to insist that every undergraduate shall be able to show a rudimentary knowledge of Greek grammar and a Greek text.
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