Iron County register., 1886-05-20
DEAD LANGUAGES.
why They Should Be Stunned By the
1outh of This Glorious Land.

why They Should Be Stunned Bv tb.
Youth of This Glorious Land.
The president of an Eastern colleof
asks: ''1s there any good reason why
our sons should not study the dead Ian.
guages?" 1t appears to worry him con.
slderably, and he says he hopes to see
the fullest discussion of the important
question. The East has taken hold Of
1t and the West should certainly be
heard from on the subject.
1t is probably fact that the untutored
West is against the dead languages. A
language that has been so Indifferent to
Its own welfare as to let some other Ian.
guage get the drop on it and furnish a
theme for the county coroner would Ger.
talnly have no political influence, and
could in no way help to build up the
country, therefore, the professor need
not be surprised if the West is found
backing the living and tolerably healthy
language as opposed to the dead and
wounded article.
do not think it necessary that our
sons should study these defunct tongues.
A language that didn't have strength
enough to pull through, but crawled off
somewhere and died, don't seem to be
worth studying. Or, if the language
was foolish enough to call in physi-
clan and otherwise court death, it don t
look as if our sons should worry over it
while there are good, healthy languages.
baseball, boat-races and other studies
demanding their attention.
will 60 even farther and say that l
can't see why our sons should spend
valuable time over invalid languages,
or languages that aren't feeling very
well. Let us not, professor, either one
of us, send our sons into the hospital to
lug out languages on a stretcher, just to
study them.
No, let us bring up our sons to shun
all diseased and disabled languages.
Even if it can't be proved that a Ian
guage comes under either of these
heads, if it has been missing since the
last engagement, it is just as well not to
have our sons chasing around after it
with a detective, trying to catch it and
pore over it.
On further thought 1 am surprised
that the professor should think there
was any question about this matter
when there are SO many live, able-bod-
led languages loafing around with COM
paratively nothing to do. After Ian
guage has regularly died and the weep
ing relatives have contested its will and
proved that it wasn't much, any way,
and was always more or less insane and
shaky, why should our sons spend their
time writing their lessons on their cuffs
and trying to pass an examination in it?
Or if a language come out into the
great freedom-blessed West and goes to
putting its Alpha and Omega brand on
some one else's stock and subsequently
sways warningly from the tall and dig
nified telegraph pole, it is not for your
son or for my son to 60 and cut it down
and seek to make its acquaintance.
While our sons are not on speaking
terms with many live languages, it i'll
becomes them to 90 foOling around
the dead and dying. While they may
not know neighboring languages by
sight, why should they seek to un-
wind the cerements from some old
mummy language that they can't ac-
cept the nomination to the office of JUS
tice of the peace in after they get it?
You may look at it differently, pro-
fessor. Our paths in the great realm of
the education of youth may lie far, far
apart, but it is my heartfelt wish that L
NAV never live to see son of mine ride
right past healthy, athletic languages
and then stand up in the stirrups and
begin to whoop and try to lariat some
poor, old language going around on
crutch, carrying half its alphabet in a
sling! If two-thirds of the words in q
language are fiat on their backs, taking
quinine, trying to get up an appetite,
let us teach our sons that they can not
hope to derive benefit from its study.
Fred IL. Cdrruth, in Chicago Current.