The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-04-04


but could speak no language comfortably
except her own. DrsRARLr never could
speak French. and as for German. he WIS
forced TO take an interpreter with him to
the Berlin Congress. An Oxford man. who
ie ripe italian scholar. told Mr.. HAMERToN
that young ladies In England invariably
give up their italian after leaving SCHOOL,
as young men throw aside their Latin. An
English Judge who had taken his degree at
Cambridge admitted that In mature life he
could not mako out Greek. even with the
help Of . lexicon. A fellow OF the French
University. who had been q prize man for
Latin in severe competitive examination.
acknowledged that he should never think OF
reading Latin for mere pleasure: he did not
know 1t we'll enough. While contending.
however, that scholarship, taken by itself.
does not assure the assimilation OF a Ian
guage. Mr.. HAMERToN does not deny the
necessity OF It. II ono would write with
grammatical and idiomatic exactness. or II
one desires social intercourse with cult
waited persons. Without scientific knowi-
edge Of the French language. for example,
one Is In certain sense shut out OF cult
vatcd French society. just as without
scientific knowledge OF the English Ian
guage one is In the same sense shut out OF
cultivated English society. Thatis TO say,
We may be admitted into 1t as children or
women arc, but yet excluded from its seri-
GUS thought. Hence the unscholarly assim-
ilation of o language may be available for
purposes OF business or travel. or inter-
course with ordinary people. but not for the
- oti m n rant
man desires.
Admitting. that both scholarship and as
simiatlon are Indispensable to the acquisi-
ton Of Il language. we come to the practi-
cal question. which should come first In the
order OF studyp Mr.. HAMERroN does not
reply to this question catcgorically. but an
answer Is implied In his assertion that 1t is
impossible to produce assimilation by arti-
flcinl means. That Is to say, II given Ian
guage suit pupil's idiosyncrasy. he can
produce assimilation for himself. but no
teacher can do 1t for him. II this position
10 correct, it may not greatly matter
whether it be before or after the time given
to scholarship that student enters on the
process OF assImllating q language really
suited to his nature. Nevertheless. in the
ouly instance known to Mr.. HAMERTON
where two languages were equally assimi-
lated, both had been acquired at home In In
fancy and youth. Prof. PALMER. on tho
other hand. to whom we have referred. he.
gan to acquire his remarkable knowledge
of colloquial Arabic at about the age when
young Englishmen enter the universities.
The degree Of assimilation should. according
to Mr.. HAMERToN, be tested by the question I:
Do you ever find yourself using the foreign
language without generalization? Do you
think In it. or dream in it. or write it invol-
UNFAIRLY If one has really assimllated Ian
guaGe other than his own. he says. 1t may
happen to him to make unconsciously an en-
try in his note book in the foreign tongue. or
to write the first page Of o letter In English.
and the second, after turning the leaf. with
the same Inconsistencies In French or
German, as the case may be. Another sug-
gested test OF assimilation Is ones serious
ness in the use Of q foreign language. lit
seems to one slightly absurd. 80 that he
cannot speak it without feeling like come
dian. 1t has not been assimilated. II you
| can talk in 1t seriously to . man on his
deathbed. the probability is that there Ia
real assimilation. Again. the language
that we use when angry is always one that
We have assimilated. Mr.. HAMERroN sees
| that strong individuality OF character Is
against assimilation. and that 1t 10 mis-
| fortune when foreign tongue becomes so
preponderant in an individual mind as to
| impede the free use Of the native language.
He notes that BIsMARcK does not like too
much perfection in the use of foreign Ian
guage. because it seems to denationalize a
man. In that case BISMARCK can scarcely
have approved OF CAvoUR. who is said tn
have spoken French better than Italian. and
made the first instructive formulation OF
his thoughts not In Italian but in French.
| The deduction that will be drawn by
many readers of Mr.. HAMERToNs article ia
that too much time ia given at universities
to linguistic scholarship. IL 1t be Of
no practical use to students wishing
to speak and write . foreign tongue
unless through natural aptitude they
are capable OF asslmilatlng that Ian
guage. 1t will not do. however, to over
look the value of scholarship considered as
a mental gymnastic and rs an indispensa
BILE instrument OF historical research. W.
are sometimes told that all that Ia worth
reading in any literature is accessible
through TRANSACTIONS. That is not true
The masterpieces Of what DE QUINCY
called the literature Of power. have been tt
a large extent translated. tits not so Will
tho literature OF knowledge. Besides. the
only person qualified to read with safety g
translation is one who possesses scholar
ship enough to verify at any moment thu
correctness OF tho version.
Will the Native African Work?
It has long been the opinion Of the whit,
men in equatorial Africa that there can bt
no large development OF trading or indus