The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-27

| It has been the dream of modern Greek
 scholars and of the educated classes gen 1 orally since the first revolution against 1 Turkey gradually to restore the ol,i i Greek tradition, and one or the princlpai l agencies by which they hoped to do it was, the sktllful adapeation ot the Greek l of the church. Perhaps in attempting this, they leaned too far away from tnr popular dialects 1t Is probably true that
 an American who can read at sight tn. Aiexandrine Greek of the first century or the Christian era can understand the "Romaic' version of the gospels no" used in Greece more readily without the
 use of dictionary than many r,na LneouSaIo 1San, read. 1t IS true, on the other hand, now ever, that the Rornaic version IS In &C., tual translation into the best dialect or
 modern Greek, which .eiuains In use. lt
 is a dialect understood and spoken by educated Greeks overwhere, whether Tn
 Athens or Gonstantinople. Tneir news,
 papers in Athens and Constantinople ana New York are published in it. It Is the language of the schools and univ}i sites and of the modern Greek literature which has grown up since the Turks were oriV- en out.
 In attempting to educate the people
 back to the Greek tradition and at the same time to give them closer con nection with the modern world, the eau
 cated men of Greece have translated into
 this modern tongue. not only Homer and other great masterpieces of old Greece,
 but Dante. Shakespeare and the great
 masterpieces of the literature of modern
 English literature. and their translations of such English poets as Byron and | Shakespeare are highly artistic produc, tions. The language of the educated modern Creek for which the rally Is | now being made against Russian infiu, ence, consists largely of words with old | Greek roots, spoken, however, with an
 accent which brings the language so s, | close to English that the influence Of | English literature on modern Greece has been greater than that of English, Ger l man or any other language Of western | Europ9 As result or the change m ! English and German works into modern Greek than 1t is French or works writ | ten by the 'Teutonic accent. Wnile the Greek now taught in the schools Of the country retains the old Greek roots, and | a considerable number of It's innections. the modern language Is governed py the | same laws of time and accent Wmcn govern the enunciation of German ana English and the literature of these lan- | guages has in consequence greater Tn, fiuence on the Greece of the present day than it could possibly have. if the | country had yielded either to the tra- ditions of the Turk or of the Schlay
 Between the old Alexandrine or popu- | lar Greek of the first century ana the
 Romaic into which the gospels are now used in Greece have been translated | there Is not a much greater difference | than between some Scottish dialects and
 the English of an American newspaper. | The proposal to translate anew means
 the adoption of the dialect forms, in 1 stead of the forms taught In the schools | of the country and adopted in its liter
 ature It is probable that the attemp,
 will not be carried out at once, against
 the threat of violent resistance, but II
 it is. it will probably end in another
 revolution, with the literary classes of
 both England and German sympathizing
 strongly with the resistance of educated | Greeks to the Schlavontc influence.