TRIVIUM SCRIPTATRIVIUM SCHOOL LANCASTER, MASS. VOL. XIII Summer 2007

ARTS AND HABITS OFA GREAT SCHOOLDr. William M. Schmitt

It is very difficult to capture the spirit of aplace or institution. Several years ago, thediocesan paper asked us to compose a pagethat conveyed to its readers some of the

uniquenessof Trivium.D e a d l i n e swere press-ing, and I amnot sure thatour attemptwas ad-equate. (Thisyear’s pageon Trivium inThe Free Presswas muchbetter!) Thefollowing isan attempt todescribe someof the things

that are so common that we might forgetthem; the students who encounter them ev-ery day might mistakenly consider themordinary.

At the very beginning of the Trivium Stu-dent Handbook the vision of “a great school”is set out clearly. William Johnson Cory, anineteenth century master in Classics at Eton,distinguished between a good school and agreat school: in a good school, a studentgains knowledge; in a great school, he devel-ops arts and habits. By “art,” Cory meansmental discipline. He writes:

You go to school at the age of twelve orthirteen; and for the next four or fiveyears you are not engaged so much inacquiring knowledge as in makingmental efforts under criticism. . . . But

The Commencement speaker this year wasMr. James Stenson, an educational consult-ant specializing in family life and familyschool relationships. He has written a num-ber of books andgiven conferencesthroughout theworld. Mr. Stensonwas headmaster atNorthridge Prepara-tory School for al-most a dozen years.

Drawing uponhis many years of ex-perience as teacherand headmasterworking with par-ents, and drawing aswell on personalmeditation andprayer, Mr. JamesStenson in his com-mencement address gave us many common-sense insights about maturing young adults.

He spoke, for instance, of the importanceof gratitude. The way we honor our parentsis by holding to and living by the principlesthey taught us. What joy our parents hadwhen we first said, “What can I do to helpyou, Mom?”

Other insights were drawn from a ques-tion he often asked of older people he wouldvisit as they pondered the four last things:“Looking back on your life, do you have anyregrets?” Three regrets were most prevalent.Many regretted their not adequately acknowl-edging the love and sacrifices that their par-ents had given them in their own developingyears because they were so very busy withthemselves, their careers, and finding their

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Students and alumni sing the “Trivium Nostrum.”

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WISE WORDS OF GRATITUDE

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(Wise Words: from page 1.) own places in a competitive world.

A second related common regret was thatthey had not seen or had not taken hold of themany wonderful opportunities that had beenoffered them in this world and in preparingfor the next. This reminded some of us ofSocrates’ very much to-the-point question inthe Apology: “Men of Athens, I honor youand I love you....O my friends, why do youcare so much about laying up the greatestamount of money, honor and reputation,and so little about wisdom, truth, and thegreatest improvement of the soul, which younever regard or heed at all? Are you notashamed?”

Another insight followed from this. Manyoctogenarians regretted not having takenreasonable risks, and thus not trusting in theprovidence of the Good God. Our Lord hadtold Peter, “Duc in alto.” Lead out into thedeep. This is the opus Dei to be done, thespreading of the Kingdom.

Mr. Stenson spoke with such logos or goodsense, with such ethos or authentic personalcharacter, that the pathos or the attentiveresponse of his rapt audience, particularly ofthe graduating seniors, was visibly evident.He spoke to all of us charitably and kindly,with wit and gentle humor.

We are honored to have had this goodand noble man address us on this occasion,Commencement 2007.

Senior Theses 2007

Are the Fine Arts Necessaryfor Man’s Happiness?

Sophia Bellavance

Are the AmericanFounding Documents

Flawed?John Cheffers

Should Judges Be Merciful?Peter Cross

Can Rock and Roll Improvethe Soul?

James DeMasi

Does the “CategoricalImperative” Form a Basis for

Morality?Matthew Dolan

Are Naturalistic Theories ofEvolution Tenable?

Robert Gallagher

Should Penance Be Public?Brianne Gyra

Is Corporal Punishment ofChildren Good?

Catherine Hieronymus

Is Friendship Necessary?Samuel Kaulbach

Is Humor in “the Eye of theBeholder”?

Clarke Mitchell

SENIOR THESES AND DEFENSE

Senior theses presentations attracted ap-proximately four hundred attentive listen-ers on three successive Friday evenings thisspring. True, a good number of persons at-tended more than one session. All came torealize that these formal exercises in rhetori-cal composition, delivery, and defense are atruly intellectual and cultural high point ofthe school year.

Students are required to examine a thesisof their own interest and choice. It must bedialectical or philosophical in nature and ofrelative depth. In discussion with a tutorthey are to write a formal paper followingthe outline of the Medieval quaestio familiarto those who have delved into St. Thomas’Summa Theologiae. They are then to deliver itorally to persuade the audience to assent tothe thesis principally by reasoned dialectic.Then they must respond to objections andquestions from the floor. The tutors urge avariety of topics while not necessarily agree-ing with the student’s conclusion.

One of the theses on the topic of humorbegan, “If a tree in the forest tells a joke andno one is around to hear it, is it funny?”

Another thesis focused on a flaw in somuch of modern science.” This flaw [of sci-entists studying embryonic stem cells] is theinattention paid to the final cause of beings,resulting in invalid knowledge and actionswhich disregard the dignity due to nature.”

Not all the presentations were equallypersuasive in the three Aristotelian rhetori-cal qualities of logos (reasoned argument),ethos (perceived character of the speaker),and pathos (audience response). The thesison rock “music” had problems of logicaldiscourse, although it was delivered welland the audience responded with vociferousinterest. The thesis on Kant’s CategoricalImperative was logically valid and clearlydelivered with sound rebuttal of objections,but it probably was too abstract for manylisteners.

As the list of theses printed on the side barindicates, these were challenging topics. Thesenior theses are one of the most significantlearning exercises that Trivium students ex-perience.

Tutor James Brehany prepares for the “Non Nobis.”

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(A Great School: from page 1.)you go to a great school, not forknowledge so much as for arts and habits;for the habit of attention, for the art ofexpression, for the art of assuming at amoment’s notice a new intellectualposture, for the art of entering quicklyinto another person’s thoughts, for thehabit of submitting to censure andrefutation, for the art of indicating assentor dissent in graduated terms, for thehabit of regarding minute points ofaccuracy, for the habit of working outwhat is possible in a given time, for taste,for discrimination, for mental courageand mental soberness. Above all, you goto a great school for self-knowledge.

If you read the passage again you willnotice a fundamental point that Cory is try-ing to make: the distinction between knowl-edge and art. Knowledge that we acquire isnot the same as arts and habits – ways ofthinking. I have often asked parents whatthey learned in high school, what knowl-edge they gained. Usually they are at a lossto remember, but if they had a teacher theyadmired, they might remember him. Most ofall, says Cory, a great school will give ushabits of mind that form how we think abouteverything. Trivium seeks to focus on thesearts and habits: really understanding an-other person’s position, the ability to see theimportance of distinctions, refined taste andmental courage. All these intangibles formwho we are and how we approach truth. Ibelieve that when Cory uses the term “self-knowledge,” he is summing up all of the artsand habits of a good student in a great school.

I am hesitant to list Trivium in the rolls ofthe great schools but if it falls short, thefailure is yours and mine and not the visionor the ideal. To my mind, the entire curricu-lum helps to develop the arts and habits thatCory mentioned, but some of the classes dothis more clearly than others. The examplesthat I would like to develop here are Euclidand Latin.

Let us begin with Euclid. Seasoned teach-ers have said that Euclid cannot be taught insecondary school. The language is archaic;the students will not be motivated. What isEuclidean geometry and why is it so impor-tant at Trivium? William Dunham, in hisbook Journey Through Genius writes,

No book has come closer to being the“bible of mathematics” than Euclid’sspectacular creation. Down through thecenturies, over 2000 editions of theElements have appeared, a figure thatmust make the authors of today’smathematics textbooks drool with envy.As noted, it was highly successful evenin its own day. After the fall of Rome, theArab scholars carried it off to Baghdad,and when it reappeared in Europe duringthe Renaissance, its impact was profound.The work was studied by the great Italianscholars of the sixteenth century and bya young Cambridge student named IsaacNewton a century later.

Abraham Lincoln “bought the Elementsof Euclid, a book twenty-three centuriesold...[It] went into his carpetbag as he wentout on the circuit. At night...he read Euclidby the light of a candle after others haddropped off to sleep.” Lincoln himself con-cluded, “You can never make a lawyer if youdo not understand what ‘demonstrate’means.” And so, he recounts, “I left mysituation in Springfield, went home to myfather’s house, and stayed there till I couldgive any proposition in the six books ofEuclid at sight, I then found out what ‘dem-onstrate’ means, and went back to my law-studies.”

Dunham – and many others – see theinfluence of Euclid on Lincoln’s rhetoric “Ithas often been noted that Lincoln’s prose

Does Man Have the Rightto Take His Own Life?

Caila Nikitas

Is Experience of EvilNecessary for Virtue?

Cierra Nugent

Are Strict ImmigrationRules Detrimental to the

Common Good?Daniel Shnaider

Are the Arguments forEmbryonic Stem Cell

Research Flawed?Marie-Louise Skidd

Should a Man Become aPriest without a

Vocation?Peter Spellman

Does God Have Eros forMan?

Edward Turner

Ian Goodmangrapples with aEuclideandemonstration.

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“If Euclid failed to kindle youryouthful enthusiasm, then you werenot born to be a scientific thinker.”Albert Einstein

was influenced and enriched by his study ofShakespeare and the Bible. It is likewiseobvious that many of his political argumentsecho the logical development of a Euclideanproposition.” Think, for example, of hisphrase, “the proposition that all men arecreated equal.” The application of the term“proposition” instead of “self-evident” isLincoln’s.

Scientists and mathematicians also praiseEuclid. For some, like Albert Einstein, Euclidis a sign of scientific capability: “If Euclidfailed to kindle your youthful enthusiasm,then you were not born to be a scientificthinker.” The mathematician BertrandRussell, perhaps exaggerating his enthusi-asm, compares Euclid to the experience oflove: “At the age of eleven, I began Euclid,with my brother as my tutor. This was one ofthe great events of my life, as dazzling as firstlove. I had not imagined that there was any-thing so delicious in the world.”

It is this lucidity of thought that is a kindof beauty. The poet Edna St. Vincent Millaysingles out Euclid for having seen beauty in

Peter Spellman (’07) asRobert Chiltern and CateHieronymus (’07) asGertrude.

all its perfection: “Euclid alone has lookedon Beauty bare.”

At Trivium, Latin is studied primarily inorder to develop clear thinking. This hasalways been the primary defense of the studyof Latin. Listen, for example, to the words ofAlfred North Whitehead, the British math-ematician and philosopher:

In Classics we endeavour by a thoroughstudy of language to develop the mind inthe regions of logic, philosophy, historyand of aesthetic apprehension of literarybeauty. The learning of the languages –Latin or Greek – is a subsidiary means forthe furtherance of this ulterior object. . .What is the best way to make a childclear-headed in its thoughts and in itsstatements? . . . Latin is the best stimulusfor mental expansion (Alfred NorthWhitehead, The Aims of Education, 64-65).

Secondarily, the study of Latin is an enor-mous aid for an understanding of English. Ithas been argued that Latin is a dead lan-guage and is therefore useless. Some stu-dents at Trivium after a number of years mayonly remember “Roma in Italia est,” theopening line of Lingua Latina. But EvelynWaugh, one of the greatest writers in theEnglish language, responds to this objection:

I have never read Latin for pleasure andshould now be hard put to it to composea simple epitaph. But I do not regret mysuperficial classical studies. I believe thatthe conventional defence of them is valid;that only by them can a boy fullyunderstand that a sentence is a logicalconstruction and that words have basicinalienable meanings, departure fromwhich is either conscious metaphor orinexcusable vulgarity. Those who havenot been so taught—most Americans andmost women—unless they are guidedby some rare genius, betray theirdeprivation. (Autobiography).

You must excuse his caustic jibe againstAmericans and women. He does leave a littlewiggleroom to men of rare genius, such asShakespeare, who know “little Latin, andless Greek.”

No, Latin as a language spoken and readis not dead, for it lives in the present dayromance languages, and if not in the foliage,it is certainly in the living roots of our greatEnglish language.

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Marie-Louise Skidd (‘07) prepares to go on stageas Mabel.

not his own. This isanalogous to thereader who tries to ap-preciate a new author.The habit of really lis-tening and under-standing another per-son has its most vis-ible form in acting.

And so it was inthe senior class pro-duction of OscarWilde’s An Ideal Hus-band, directed by Mrs.Susan Walsh. Theplayers assumed “at amoment’s notice a newintellectual or emo-tional posture for theart of entering quicklyinto another’s

thoughts.” In this play, the silly hypocrisyand utter worldly materialism of the nine-teenth century British upper classes werebrilliantly portrayed . . . and yet loyalty,honesty, and goodness gloriously prevailed.THE WORLD’S OUR STAGE

In literature classes students read dra-mas, and every year each G, L, and R Groupputs on a play. Every student is on stageevery year. Why is drama so important? Thereason is that art imitates life. Drama, how-ever, tries to capture the whole meaning oflife. This is why the Globe Theater was builtas a microcosm of the world. “All the world’sa stage, and all the men and women merelyplayers.” (Shakespeare, As You Like It).

During the year the drama groups stageda series of plays. In the fall the 9th gradeplayers, after studying techniques ofcommedia dell’arte, presented hilarious im-provisations. The 10th grade put on the oldfavorite, Arsenic and Old Lace. In midwinter,the G-Group produced A.A. Milne’s Make-Believe. In the spring, the 11th grade staged anumber of scenes exhibiting the rhetoricalart of persuasion from Shakespeare’s famil-iar tragedies.

When a student takes a role, especiallyone that is very different from his own char-acter, he is forced to develop the habit ofthinking and acting in a way that is clearly

Clarke Mitchell (’07) as Lord Goring and EdwardTurner (’07) as his servant Phipps in OscarWilde’s An Ideal Husband.

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NEWS & NOTES

Through the fall, the Trivium flag foot-ball team was challenged by a well disci-plined Immaculate Heart of Mary Schoolteam. Two of the games were played in therain on the muddy field, but the team wasunflagging in its enthusiasm! Trivium man-aged to win all three contests. With ten se-nior boys graduating, perhaps next year willtell another story.

SIMPLY AMAZING

On May 16, the School Chorale presentedGilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury. Mrs.Molly Smillie was the musical director. Mr.Muir was the assistant director, and Mr. JohnHamm provided professional piano accom-paniment. The plot was complicated, thecharacters questionable, the diction challeng-ing and witty – the thought, well, hardly any!But the spectacle and song were simply amaz-ing, as only a G & S opera can be. Thewardrobe mistresses of the Trivium Atticoutdid themselves.

The singing of theseveral soloists, thevery feminine brides-maids, and the mascu-line jury was admi-rable. The lovelyAngelina was beauti-fully played and sungby Miss MaggieMurphy (’09). Al-though she could notwin the affection of the“defendant,” she cer-tainly captured thehearts, not only of thejudge, but of the cheer-ing audience as well!

Angelina, played byMargaret Murphy (’09),makes her case.

IDES OF MARCH

Labor omnia vincit, said Virgil. That wascertainly the case for our Latin students whotook the National Latin Exam this year, ap-propriately, on the Ides of March. Ninetypercent of our students received honors onthe exam compared with fifty-nine percentlast year. Thirteen of our fifty-five studentsreceived gold medals. Our Latin IV class didespecially well, scoring on average nineteenpercent higher than the national average!

Idibus Martis multi mille discipuli, orbisterrarum, qui student linguae Latinae,scripserunt ACL/NJCL Examen LatinumMMVII.

Ex quinquaginta cinque discipuli quiscripserunt hoc examen in schola nostra,quadraginta cinque acceperunt dignitates;tredecim meruerunt Summa Cum Laude (in-signe aureum), sedecim ceperunt MaximaCum Laude (insigne argenteum) et sedecimacceperunt Magna Cum Laude aut CumLaude (honores).

Magister incognitus et severus dixit hocexamen non verum examen esse, nampotestas scribere sententias recte est probatiovera grammaticae. Hoc examen “electionesmultiplicabiles” tantum habuit.

Tamen nos magistri beati sunt. Bravodiscipuli probi!

Quis dicit linguam Latinam mortuamesse?

!

Clarke Mitchell in theChorale’s performanceof Trial by Jury

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DEPARTURES AND WELCOMES

The senior/tutor dinner was the occasionto say good-bye to three full time tutors,thanking them for their fine services. MayGod bless them on their way. After nineyears of tutoring many subjects, includinginstrumental and choral music, history andLatin, Senior Tutor Mr. James Brehany istaking leave to pursue the study of classicsfull time at the University of Massachusetts.Mr. Joseph Prever will be traveling to Peru todo mission work. Miss Ashley Filiault willbecome Mrs. Scrivener in August and willlive in Virginia. We wish them well.

Three new tutors will join the faculty forthe coming year. Mrs. Elizabeth CheffersSchroeder (’02) is a graduate of Notre DameUniversity. Miss Ingrid Mitchell (’02) is agraduate of Thomas Aquinas College, andMr. John Russell is a graduate of GordonCollege. Mr. Russell obtained an M.A. inphilosophy from Gonzaga University and isa Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at Duquesne.He is married with two young children. Heand his wife are recent converts to Catholi-cism.

The two teams of the firstTrivium “Mud Bowl.”

Similarly, the seventh and eighth gradersof the G-Group soccer team triumphed.Imago School met more than its match onThayer Field three times. There were a goodnumber of outstanding players, but Mutt(the tall goalie) and Jeff (the short wing) werestar players. One of these years Imago will bea solid challenge!

The School soccer teams both had suc-cessful seasons. The boys finished third intheir division, with a 8-0-1 season. They haveremained undefeated for the last three years.The girls, under the guidance of MarkCheffers, are a developing team of youngerplayers. They had a record of 4-3-0. Mr.Cheffers was so enthusiastic about the teamthat he bought everyone red sweatshirts.

Trivium’s basketball team had anothersuccessful season winning most of its games.How fortunate the School is to have the, abletraining, and disciplined coaching of Mr.Kenneth Kaulbach. Although a number ofthe first team players have graduated, Mr.Kaulbach is already looking forward to an-other and perhaps improved winning sea-son next year.

!In January, over fifty Trivium students

participated in the March for Life in Wash-ington, D.C. All of the logistics for the tripwere organized by Miss Carol Filiault andMr. Larry Filiault.

!This year’s senior class continued with a

strong showing on the SATs. For the last fouryears Trivium students have averaged in the96th percentile nationally on the critical read-ing section of the exam and in the 81th per-centile nationally on the math section. Con-gratulations!

Students Scores on the SATC. Reading Math56% 700-800 14%40% 600-699 54%2% 500-599 32%4% 400-499 2%0% 0 -400 0%

The writing section of the SAT only beganlast year. Trivium students averaged in the90th percentile.

TRIVIUM SCHOOLP.O. Box 597

S. Lancaster, MA 01561

Congratulations!Mr. & Mrs. Ephraim Josephs won the

Rome Trip Raffle.Fifteen years ago they spent their honeymoon

in Rome. Happy second honeymoon!

Buy your tickets for the$10,000 Raffle before

the drawing on October 20How can I double my chances?

Buy another ticket!

“True freedom could nevercondemn the individual to an insatiablequest for novelty.

In the light of truth, authenticfreedom is experienced as a definitiveresponse to God’s ‘yes’ to humanity,calling us to choose, not indiscriminatelybut deliberately, all that is good, true andbeautiful.

Parents, then as the guardians ofthat freedom, while gradually giving theirchildren greater freedom, introduce themto the profound joy of life”

(Pope Benedict XVI, Children and theMedia: A Challenge for Education).