CHAPTER IX.
MODERN LANGUAGES.
"All nations have their message from on high, Each the messiah of some central thought, For the fulfilment and delight of Man: One has to teach that Labour is divine; Another Freedom and another Mind; And all, that God is open-eyed and just, The happy centre and calm heart of all." JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
We cannot have a perfect knowledge even of our own language without some acquaintance with more than one other, either classical or modern.

This is especially true of English because it has drawn its strength and wealth from so many sources, and absorbed them into itself.

But this value is usually taken indirectly, by the way, and the understanding of it only comes to us after years as an appreciable good.

It is, however, recognized that no education corresponding to the needs of our own time can be perfected or even adequately completed in one language alone.

Not only do the actual conditions of life make it imperative to have more than one tongue at our command from the rapid extension of facilities for travelling, and increased intercourse with other nations; but in proportion to the cooling down of our extreme ardour for experimental science in the school-room we are returning to recognize in language a means of education more adapted to prepare children for life, by fitting them for intercourse with their fellow-creatures and giving them some appreciative understanding of the works of man's mind.