This page has been validated.
The Position of Classical Studies
617
classical antiquities. Then at several centres in different parts of the country there now exist good collections of casts from the antique, permitting a systematic survey of Greek and Roman sculpture. We see, then, how in art, as in literature, the course of the century has tended to enrich and to enlarge classical studies. Let us now look a little more closely at those studies themselves, and observe how far their scope and method have been altered during the same period. But, in order to understand this, we must throw our glance further back.
Development of classical studies.For a long time after the revival of ancient literature men were occupied chiefly with the beauty of its form; this is the period to which Erasmus belongs, though he himself was much more than a stylist. Next, study was attracted by the wealth of the subject-matter contained in the classics, and we have the labours of such men as Casaubon. The third stage is that of textual criticism, in which Bentley was a vigorous pioneer. So far, the general characteristic had been the predominance of individual genius. A strong personality arose, a man like one of those just named, and made an epoch. His work was emphatically his own; and he was bound by no rules except such as he might lay down for his own guidance. But, as generations went on, and the literature of these studies grew in volume, students began to feel the need of more agreement on general principles. In the present century the scientific spirit has added the domain of these old studies to its conquests. Within the last fifty
