Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-11-30
THE WORLDS TONGUE.


in he eighteenth centu'v, ana Latin
in the mioolo ages, the language
chosen by common consent for inter
between statesman
savants and fashionable and literary
persons of different nations. With
English one can make his way con
veniently along any of the beaten
t. acks in Europe More people now
steak English as .heir vernacnlar
than speak any other European
tongue.
A sign of the growth in importance
o; the English tongue is the recent
action of the school authorities OF
the German government in making
Englsh an optional study in the pub
lie schools Of Saxony. This action
was induced by petition addressed
to the government by the Dresden
Schoolmasters' association. The Pc
|t;tion was an excellent syllabus OF the
arguments in favor Of English as a
subject for study in the German pub
lie schools. A portion OF 1t was as
follows:
Firs1-1ngiish is the most widely
lsed civilized language in the world
Second--It is he most important
language for Germany's international
trade relations In Dresden especial
|lv the knowledge OF English is or
81 eat advantage to shopkeepers and
commercial men, owing to the i'm
portant Anglo-American colony there.
Third-English deserves prefer
euce over French on account OF its
/ literature, which (a> eScels that OF
French both from the artistic and
moral point of view; tb) appeals
more nearly to our sentiment and un-
, ,derstanding as that of a German peo-
pie: (c) has played a prominent part
in the development of our own 1ltera-
ture
Fourth-English is not inferior TO
French in educative valu..
Fif hin the teaching Of En2li h
the readily learned grammatical
ferns of the language enable the time
allotted TO its study o be spent IN
attaining the most important objee IN
teaching a foreign Iangnaee-the pow
cr of its free use in speech and VIII.
ise This is not possible i'll The case
OF French, owing to The difficulties ef
its grammar
It is only within recent times thaz
English has been taught carefu}lH
even N English and American
schools. The old theory was that
student learned Eaelish best by read
ing the Latin and Crock authors
While tho benefits of a knowledge o1
Latin and Greek are very great. and
certinlr asst in acquiring the accom-
nI.5ha5 n. Of using EnsIish correctly
an elegantly. he close attention noV
azen to En@lish in our=ewa seh'o'
NH improve the average qnality ot
E9zIish composition
Ne scaresIy appreciate Hha
teaslre We possess in or F,neljsh
,aa@ue. The Vocabulary Of Enalisf
l1sss# been enriched ny pllndar from
every land and every language. Z
flexible tongue. ada0fable to any
lea. and a tongue which welcomes
accessons when those are necessary.
Il is not by It's intrinsic virtue, how
over. that the EneEgh language is
rreadine and is becoming the cosmo.
politan medium Of communication.
hut rather by he increasing import-
alec of tho people that speak English
The British and the Americans con
nol a large portion Of the world $
t-ade Their infuence IS felt every
where. They sell 10 everybody and
everybody wishes 10 sell TO 'hem.
\ eriIy. The English language has
oume forward since he time when
Bacon. daspairing of the perpetWty OF
he English tongue translated some
N his works into Latin.