The Dead Language Lives

A heartening report on the radio last night about the successful reintroduction of Latin into schools, via [Lat.] the Cambridge Schools Classics Project, which does this kind of thing, making Latin accessible to all. As one of the contributors pointed out, Latin acts as a ladder to higher ways of thinking and higher forms of discourse (hence the centuries-enduring Gradus ad Parnassum). It certainly leads to clearer thinking, especially about the structure of language and therefore meaning, and, happily, half-opens the door to a range of other modern languages - imagine how infinitely harder it would be to learn Italian with no knowledge of Latin. I think, historically, the learning of Latin has also been a ladder whereby children of lowly origin can, in every sense, 'get on' - that is why the teaching of Latin was central to the grammar school curriculum. And that is why, my friends, we have Shakespeare.

Is It Him?

This is the portrait that's in the news - the 'Cobbe portrait' of someone who might or might not be
Shakespeare. It looks to me to be a pretty strong case - about as strong as it could be in the context - and it will be interesting to see if further research confirms it. I for one would certainly like to think that this sharp-eyed roguish fellow in the fancy ruff might be the man himself - and it's a fine portrait in itself. Any thoughts?