Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1857-07-30
rue TRIUMPH OF PHILOLO.

A MULTIFoRM N MANY-COLORED Null
TITUDE,
Philology or the acquisition of Ian
guage is in itself a very harmless and
amusing pursuit for those who have
time to spare, and not enough of brains
to devote themselves with any prospect of
success to the creation of original ideas.
But the importance laid upon a knowl-
edge of the dead languages by all the
European colleges, and by too many of
our own, is supremly ridiculous. 1t is
very true that an acquaintance with the
works of Homer, Plato, Sophocles, and
Cicero may be desirable; but have We
not t~ranslations of these in the English
tongue, and might it not profit US some
what more to have carefully rehearsed
and studied the noble teachings of Ba-
con, Shakespeare, Milton Locke, and
Webster? If a man has but one idea,
though he may have half a dozen diff
ferent tongues to express it in, he has
but one idea after all. Elihu Burritt,
for example, "the learned blacksmith
of Worcester, can converse and write in
over half a hundred different languages
and dialects; but he has never been sus-
pected of any inordinate supply of
brains-and up to the present moment
we are una~cquainted with any river
that has been set on fire by his genius.
Pholology pursued for his W sake
is q rank humbug and nothing else; but
when a mastery of tongues is used, as
Professor Holloway has used it, for the
q I4n A~I kny,l
valuable discoveries among all tribes and
nationalties of men, We recognize in it
one of the noblest instruments of civil
cation and grateful for the assistance it
imparts.
Whether the long and laborious sci
entifc researches and experiments which
Holloway had to undergo before he uc-
ccedcd in perfecting his universal RENE
dies, left him time for the personal ac-
QUESTION ofall the languages now spoken
upon earth, we do not know, and, we
speaking of an ordinary man, should
think they could not possibly; but in our
estimate of such a character as his, the
common standard of intellectual meas
urement is at fault; and it seems not i'm
probable that the mind which obtained
uOulIUkOu ONSE iii 1OlhhS VI ulhu hid
ady, could easily obtain the key to every
tongue.
Whether this be so, or not, certain it
is that Holloway has established printed
Journals in all the known languages of
the world-journals specially devoted
to the furtherance of medical truth and
a proclamation of saving principles
embodied in the use of his Universal
Remedies. The philologist could de-
sire no richer treat than a persual of the
many thousand files of papers, all of
them in different tongues, which can be
seer in his establishment, and the Brit
ish Museum, endowed as it has been
both by the muniiccnce of individuals
and bodies corporate, is indebted to no
single individual more than it is to Pro
fessor Holloway.
If We needed a grand interpreter OF
humanity, an interpreter whose former
deeds and general character would every
where secure a favorable audiance for
whatever new ideas he might choose to
lay before the assembled congregation
of mankind, it is to Holloway that We
should of necessary apply. He, indeed,
has turned ~philology to good account:
and his reward is this,-that it enables
him to understand the manifold and
ecaseless songs of bencdictiOn and graf.
itude which arise to him from the full
hearts of the millions his Universal Re,
needles have rescued from the very
jaws of the grave.
This indeed is the most pregnant tri
umph of philology, and by far the most
useful purpose that the possession Of
many tongues has hitherto been applied
TO. All honor to Professor Holloway
and may be long continue to dispense
his Universal Remedies to the muitiforn
and many -colorcd multitude who have
been taught by experience to look up tc
hlti as their medical rcdeemer-aN. Y
Nut Police Gazette.