And even of those who?without being great scholars?attain a certain general acquaintance with the ancient writers?can it really be said that they have also obtained the mastery of English? How many young gentlemen there are from the universities and public schools who can turn a Latin verse with a facility which would make the old Romans squirm in their tombs.How few there are who can construct a few good sentences?or still less a few goodrect?and strw?I am a great admirer of the Greeks,although?of course?I have to depend upon what others tell me about them?—and I would like to see our educationists imitate in one respect?at least?the Greek example.How is it that the Greeks made their language the most graceful and compendious mode of expression ever known among men? Did they spend all their time studying the languages which had preceded theirs? Did they explore with tireless persistency the ancient root dialects of the vanished world? Not at all.They studied Greek.They studied their own language.They loved it?they cherished it?they adorned it?they expanded it?and that is why it survives a model and delight to all posterity.Surely we?whose mother?tongue has already won for itself such an unequalled empire over the modern world?can learn this lesson at least from the ancient Greeks and bestow a little care and some proportion of the years of education to the study of a language which is perhaps to play a predominant part in the future progress of mankind.
Let us remember the author can always do his best.There i