Evening journal., 1911-05-25
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A Chat With the Father Of
the international Peace
Movement
By "HOIland.5
By Holland"

In these piping days Of international
peace conference and talk, It were we'll
to remind the world that the first in
ternational peace congress was or
ganized by a man who first followed
the occupation of blacksmith. This was
Elihu Burritt (1S11-79), whose occu-
patton, together with his wonderful
aptitude for languages and his mar
velously rapid mastery of them, caused
him to be known far and wide as the
Learned Blacksmith"
II was in l84S that Mr.. Burritt Or
ganized the first international peace
conference. which met in Brussels in
the fall Of that year; the next year the
second international peace conference
met in Paris and was presided over by
Victor Hugo. Years later when Mr..
Burritt was an old man and full OF
honors as the father Of the interna-
tional peace movement and interna-
| tional arbitration, ! met him. He was
4 one of the most gentle men have ever
| known; and he spoke in voice modu-
lated TO exquisite softness Of utterance,
/ almost musical.
81 suppose il is true, as has been
] said, that / have mastered more dead
languages, some OF them almost for
| gotten, than any other American" he
said But / don't know that so much
can be said of me in relation to the
! living languages. Caleb Cushing, who,
you know, was one of our govern
ment's counsel before the Geneva
court Of arbitration, speaks as many
Of the Continental languages as | do,
and it may be that he has knowledge
! Of one or two more living languages
than have.
Many persons" continued the man
whose work for international peace
largely Influenced the calling of the
! famous Geneva court of arbitration in
1871, have thought that | had secret
formula by which I have been able to
acquire languages. and General Cush-
ing has told me that many of his
friends have been of the same opin-
ion about his mastery of languages.
But want to say to you that there is
no secret about it,
shall | tell you how General Cush-
ing and Rufus Choate. whose mastery
of languages was marvelous-who was
a greater master of Latin and Greek
than either General Cushing or myself
became linguists? Each man was
accustomed to rise at 3 o'clock in the
morning Each had upon a little table
by his bedside a grammar of some for
eign language. Half an hour of the
early morning spent in study of that
grammar made Rufus Choate one OF
the greatest masters OF Greek and
Latin the modern world has ever
| known. Half an hours study before
breakfast made General Cushing a
master of the Continental languages,
so far as reading them was concerned.
and as he has a wonderfully quick ear
he was able. after a few months travel
I'm Europe, to speak like a native the
language he had learned to read in the
quiet OF his bedroom.
Like both these men, | studied Ian
guages on arising in the morning, be-
fore ! was compelled TO take up my
bread-and-butter duties Like General
Cushing, ] visited Europe early in my
study Of languages to learn how 10
speak the languages of that continent
properly. And | will say to you that
If you have an inclination TO know the
modern languages Of the classics then
steal half an hour-yes, even fifteen
minutes day from your pleasures
or your sleep, and you may. II you
have an Unborn capacity for languages,
master as many languages as l have
done"
Copyright, 1911. by E. j. Edwards. All
rights reserved.)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell OF
"The Experience That Puzzled Harriet
Beecher Stowe"