New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-06-03


small transactions of his daily life, but was 50 nm
tied and so incorrect that he could not maintain con
yersation. His vocabulary was very meager HIS
oenders were ali wrong aud he did not know one
SINGLE verb. literally not one. HIS prohuilcliuon
was SO foreign rs to be very nearly uhlteiigloie'
and he hestaed so much that 1t was painiui TO nave
IN lisfen 70 him. I could mention ceiepialeu uer-
man who has lived in or near Pans for the last
twenty wears and who can neither speak nor write
the language with any approach to accuracy
Another German, who settled In France as master
Of languages wrote French toleraby but spoke 1t IN
tolorablv. There are Germans in London, who have
lived there long enough to have families and make
fortunes. vet who continue to repeat the ordinary
German faults of pronunciation, the same faults
which they committed years ago, when first they
landed on our shores But it is a comfort to be as
sured that the little Smaterng which girls just from
school, and commercial travellers prize so highly, is
of triAing account as a means Of culture, however
useful it may be for practical convenience.
Let me observe in conclusion, that although to know
foreign language perfectly is most valuable ana 70
very imperfect attainment which seemed 10 enrich the
student intellectually Until you can really feel the re-
little help furtherance from IL OF any KIND n0lhhg
but an iutermnahe series OF misuuderslandingS; /
think that the education OF our boys TOO many la
guages attempted and that their minds would prOnt
more by the perfect acquisition OF single lguaEe N
addition to the native tongue. This, OF course Is look
ing at the matter simply from the intellectual point OF
view There may be practical reasons Tor ko"E nan,
men in commercial situations TO know ltte Oh severn
languages. few words and phrases are Vaiuapc
to traveller, but all Intellectual labor of the hlghlr
kind requires much than that IL Is OF use 10 80
cety that there should be polygot walters who tell
Us when the train starts in four or five languages pIt
the pOyglOt walters themselves are not lultlecudy
advanced bv their accomplishment; for. after ALL the
facts OF the railway timetable are always the same
small facts, in however many languages tuel may ve
announced. True culture ought 10 strengthen tue
i thinking,
! which that noble faculty may operate An accomplish
ment which does neither OF these two things for US Is
useless for our culture though may be Of considerable
practical convenience III the affairs OF ordinary ne II
is right to add however that there Is sometimes an ~
direct intellectual benefit from such accomplishments
To be able to order dinner in Spanish is not in itself an
| intellectual advantage but II the dinner WHEN you
have eaten it, enables you to visit cathedral whose
architecture you are qualified TO appreciate theIe Is
clear intellectual gain, though an indirect one
One of the most piquant letters IN the volume IS
| addressed to young man of the middle class who
complained that he could not get on well with his
mother person Of an authoritative disposition, but
without education. The good lady is described as
expecting Difference and not easily bearing contra
dictioa She is rather laxative does not like to
hear conversation going on, without taking part in
it, whether she is informed ON the subject or not
Medical men, and even lawyers, do not lntlmldate
her. for she is convinced that she knows more about
disease than the doctor and more about legal busl-
ness than an old attorney. In theology no clergy
man can approach her, 1t here, Mr.. Hamerton sug-
pests. "a woman may consider herself on her own
ground as theology is the speciality of woman"
little incident which he relates whimscally illus
trates the situation.
remember a great scene which took place between
you and your mother concerning he American war. ~
was brought on nv TOO precise answer OF yours rea-
lively 90 your friend b., who had emgrated 70 America
Grated and Won answered. The Argentine Republic"
shade Of dispeasure clouded your mothers c onh-
tepance because she did not know where the Argentine
Republic might be, and betrayed II by her manner nOu
imprudently added that it was IN South America. yes,
YES know very we'll" she answered " there was a
great battle thore during the American war II Is well
Your friend not there under Jefferson DAVIS Now,
permit me observe my estimaOlc young friend, that
tins was what the French call fine opportunity for
holding your tongue, but you missed it, Fired with an
enthusiasm for truth always dangerous TO the peace OF
famies you began TO explain TO tue gOOd auy that the
Argentine Republic, though in South America, was
not one of the Southern States Of the Union This led
to sceneOf which the embarrassed aud unwilling
witness. Your mother vehementy affirmed that all the
Southern States had been under Jefferson Davis that
she knew the fact perfectly, that II had always been
known TO every one during the war, ana that cOhse-
quently the Argentine Republic was IN south Amer
lea, the Argentine Republic had been under Jefferson
Davis. Rapidly warming with TINS dlsclsslOn, your
mother supposed that yon would deny next mat
there had ever been such thing as war
between the North ana the South Ihen you
in your turn, lost temper ana you tetched an
atlas for the purpose Of explaining that the Southern
division Of the continent OF America was ho t1e 5ouIl
ern half Of the United States. You were landed as peO-
pie always landed when they prosecute an argument
with the Ignorant IN the thankesS ONCE OF the school
master You actually trying 10 give your mother
your didactic attentions. She glanced at the book
people gance at offered dish which they dislike. She
does not understand maps the representation OF places
in geographical topography has never been quite clear
to her Your little geographical lecture tated but did
inmate the understanding. The distinction between
south America and the Southern States is not easy TO
the nOn-analytic mind under any circumstances, but
when prODre is involved It becomes impossible
The author recommends concession as the best
policy in such cases. Let the truth perhaps be told
once and only, for the sake of conscience, but
after that preserve a strctlsilence For example,
in the discussion about the Argentine Republic your
proper course would have been to say first, firmly,
that the territory question was not part Of the
seeded States and had never been in the Union,
with brief and decided geographical explanation.
Your mother would not have been convinced by this,
and would probably have had the last word, but the
matter would have ended there Another friend Of
mine. who is in position very like your own goes
step further, and is determined to agree with his
mother-in-law in everything. lie always assents to
her propositions. She is FTenchwomaD, and has
been accustomed to use 4lg6rie and Afrique con-
vertible terms. Somebody spoke of the Cape of
Good Hope as being in Africa. Then it belongs to
France as Africa belongs to France Oui, chere
mere he answered, in his usual formula; 'vous
aveZ rasOn.''
The closing chapter on Surroundings presents
several interesting examples Of the habits of distn
! guished literary men III respect TO their favOnte
! haunt and external arrangements for study. In
the biography of Dr. Arnold his longing for natural
beauty recurs as Of the pecuiarities of his
stitution He did not need very grand scenery,
though he enjoyedit deeply, but some wild natural
loneliness was such necessity for him that he pinned
for it unhappily in its absence. Rugby could offer
him scarcely anything of this. We have no hills,
he lamented. no plains-uot single wood, and but
one single cOpse; no heath, no down. no rock, no
river no clear stream-scarcely any flowers for the