Missed Prayers this Morning although awake before the bell rung. I was in time however
for recitation but did not attend it with much advantage to myself as upon being called
upon, I was obliged to declare myself not prepared. After recitation I stated the
reason to Mr. Hayward but he laid open no way of avoiding the difficulty. After breakfast
we attended a Lecture from Mr. Everett at the Philosophical room which is no place
however, fit for such purpose. His course today was short, merely laying out his ground
and stating the kinds which he should divide it in; his manner is good for Lecture
as it is simple, easy and clear. He has a singular way of dwelling upon an adjective
even when connected with a substantive which should receive the accent. It was his
course he said to give an account of Grecian literature. He then made some observations
upon it’s originality and antiquity, the first composition was earlier than that of
the Oriental tribes and, if we except a portion of the Hebrew writings, theirs were
the first literary efforts. It is on this account that we are indebted to them. It
is for the influence which these attempts exerted upon future periods that we look
up to them. In this Lecture, he intended only to explain the general nature of his
topics and his future course. He would first treat of the origin of the language,
although he should not take much notice of the argument concerning the Phoenicians,
as it is certain enough whatever they may have contributed to the Greek language,
none of their own productions, if they ever had any, have ever been received by us.
He should first notice the legislators, such as were only known in fable and mythology.
This he called the Anti Homeric age.
Then he should treat of Homer and of Hesiod. He should then treat of the Lyric writers
such as Alcaeus, Sappho and others which he should call the Classic Age. The succeeding
time was remarkable for the commencement of prose writing with the invention of paper
re•
{ 337 } ceived from Egypt, which was so remarkably late as only the seventh century before
the Christian era. He said his course as far as here would
[be] in regular chronological order but in future this mode would be too arbitrary and
only create confusion concerning the different sorts of authors. He should treat of
Pindar alone as he is the sole author in his species of writing. He should then go
on to speak of the dramatists, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. It was remarkable
that these lived so nearly in the same age as they are found to have when we reflect
that Aeschylus was engaged in the famous battle of Salamis, Sophocles was chosen leader
of the band or chorus to celebrate the victory and Euripides was born on the very
day.
He should then treat of the historians, the most remarkable of whom were Herodotus,
Thucydides and Xenophon. Also he should notice Ctesias and Heraclides Ponticus who
are not known to us as only small fragments of their works are preserved. Next came
the philosophy which he should treat of entire, down to the destruction of Greece.
Then the Orators and then some miscellaneous notices which could not well be classed
under any of these heads. Next he should describe the Alexandrian age from the establishment
of Christianity to the downfall of Greece the most learned if not the most illustrious
age of Greece. Lastly came the ecclesiastical age in which the propagation of letters
in the west of Europe took place, with some observations upon the formation of the
language of Modern Greece. A subject not exactly connected with his but which might
be advantageous. This is his plan.
He closed the lecture with some sort of an address to us. He said that we must be
aware that we had come to a time of life when our minds either had or shortly would
take a graver cast, that we were to acquire a habit of forcing attention, the only
way by which our future studies could be advanced. We were not to make amusement our
principal object and we must be conscious, we could hardly receive much here. We were
progressing into a time of life when we should become fully sensible of the worth
of literary acquirements as we had less opportunity from attention to our various
professions of increasing them. He therefore recommended to us to pursue while the
time was given us those branches which would be of so much advantage and solace in
future life. This was a short lecture so that I know not what I shall make of long
ones. After we had come out of this I returned to my room, wrote my Journal and read
Pope’s Third Essay on the use of Riches. These do not strike me so much as they did
in first going over. I also continued reading Rochefoucault.
At eleven o’clock, I went in with the class to Mr. Farrar for a lesson
{ 338 } in Astronomy which is our morning study for this term. He laid his plan before us
which was that we should read over this work of Ferguson’s on Astronomy,
1 which is our Text book, and he should ask questions upon it which he should illustrate
as well as he could from the instruments in his possession and by familiar conversation.
This man is the only one who understands the method of instruction. After a few observations
upon the value of Astronomy as a Science, he dismissed us. I spent the rest of the
morning in attempting to select a speech for declamation and at length fixed upon
that one of Henry’s, which is so often spoken.
After dinner was over, I went to the library to obtain a book for our next Forensic
which takes place unexpectedly on Thursday. I did not succeed however. I then employed
myself the rest of the afternoon in studying a lesson in Paley which was a remarkably
hard one. It was on Simony. I shall be compelled to change my plan of study this term
as we have the afternoon without division so that I shall be compelled to study two
hours every day upon the same lesson which will make it somewhat fatiguing.
2 After recitation was over, I went to Brenan’s room and spent the remaining few minutes
before Prayers. It is a singular sort of a change, moving into Holworthy. But every
anticipation is so pleasant that we are considerably borne up even under a hard load
of studies.
After tea, I settled myself down comfortably in my room for the evening. I employed
myself in reading Rochefoucault’s maxims which I do not find, generally speaking,
so extremely striking, but I am willing to attribute this to the extension of the
truth of them which now makes them appear Commonplace. I also thought upon my Forensic
but could not come to a great deal of matter in point. I managed to write a number
of hints tonight upon the subject which however cost me the Evening. I again attempted
my Mathematics and failed again. I found I could do nothing, so coolly turned back
to see what I could do on the subject at it’s commencement, and found myself in a
similar predicament, so I went to bed in despair. X:30.