Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-11-14
THE WORLDS TONGUE.

English is today what French was
in he eighteenth centuv, and Latin
in the miuule ages, the language
chosen by common consent for inter-
communication between statesman
savants and fashionable and literary
persons of different nations. with
English one can make his way con-
yeniently along any OF the beaten
I, acks in Europe. More people now
sreak English as their vernacular
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
English 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 4
subject for study in the German pub
lie schools. A portion OF it was as
follows:
First-English is the most widely
used civilized language in the world.
Second-It is the most important
language for Germany's international
trade relations. In Dresden especial
" the knowledge of English is OF
s1eat advantage to shopkeepers ana
commercial men, owing to the i'm
portant Anglo-American colony there
Third-English deserves prefer
ence over French on account OF its
literature, which (a) eXcels that OF
French both from the artistic and
moral point of view; (b) appeals
more nearly to our sentiment and un'
derstanding as that of German peo
pie; (c) has played prominent part
in the development of our own 1itera
ture.
Fourth-English is not inferior tc
French in educative value.
Eff HIN the teaching of English
the readily learned srammatlca
ferns of the language enable the TINS
allotted to its study to be spent IN
attaining the most important object IN
teaching a foreign laneuage-the pow
or of its free use in speech and writ
,ir.e. This is not possible in the case
os French. owing TO the difficulties ol
its grammar.
It is only within recent times tina
English has been taught carefully
even in English and American
schools. The Old theory was that 2
student learned English best by read
ing the Latin and Greek authors
While the benefits of a knowledge o.
Latin and Greek are very great, ant
certinly assist in acquiring the accom-
plishmont of using English correctly
and elegantly, the close attention nov
given to English in our own schools
will Improve tic average quality OF
English composition.
We scarcely appreciate what
treasure We possess in our English
tongue. The vocabulary of Englisf
has beer enriched by plunder from
every land and every language. Il
is a flexible tongue, adaptable to any
itea, and a tongue which welcomes
teccessions when those are necessary
IT is not bv its intrinsic virtue, how
ever, that the English language IS
spreading and is becoming the cosmo
Ipolitan medium of communication
but rather by the increasing import
ahca of the people that speak English
The British and the Americans con
troll large portion of the worlds
trade Their influence is felt every
where They sell to everybody and
everybody wishes to sell to them
Verify, the English language has
come forward since the time wher
Bacon, despairing of the perpetuity o1
the English tongue, translated some
OF his works into Latin.