Page:An attempt towards an international language.pdf/13



It is likely that the eyes of the reader will light upon this pamphlet not without a certain amount of distrust, supposing, at ﬁrst blush, that it treats of an Utopia utterly impossible of realisation; for this reason, I would ask him, for the moment, to set aside any such preconceived idea, and to consider carefully, seriously and without prejudice, the matter of which I intend to treat in the present work.

I need not dilate upon the immense importance for Humanity of the existence of an International language, one that could be adopted by all nations and be the common property of the whole world, without belonging in any way to any existing nationality. It is pitiful to consider the amount of time and labor continually given to the study of foreign languages, and yet, for all our pains, how often does it happen that, when we have crossed the boundaries of our fatherland, we can neither understand those among whom we are thrown, nor make them comprehend what we desire to communicate. How much time, trouble and money are wasted in the translation of the literary work of a nation, and yet how small a portion of its literature has ever been so reproduced or will be, even more or less unfaithfully. But, if there were in existence an International Language, all translations could be made into it, and even works written therein, which would possess, ipso facto, an international character. The impassable wall that separates literatures and peoples would at once crumble into the dust, and all that was written by another nation would be as acceptable as if in our own mother tongue; reading would prove common to all, and with it would advance education, ideals, convictions, tendencies–the whole world would be as one family.