Page:On the education of the people of India (IA oneducationofpeo00trevrich).pdf/130

116 sources, which characterises the languages of the modern civilised nations. The naturalisation of foreign knowledge is, no doubt, a task of some difficulty; but history proves that as fast as it can be introduced, words are found in more than sufficient abundance to explain it to the people, without any special provision being necessary for that purpose. The greater effort involves the less; and this is the first time any body ever thought of separating them.

Take our own language as an example. Saxon is the ground-work of it; Norman-French was first largely infused into it: then Latin and Greek, on the revival of letters; and, last of all, a few words from other modern languages. Each of these has blended harmoniously with the rest; and the whole together has become one of the most powerful, precise, and copious languages in the world. Yet Latin, and Greek, and French are only very distantly related to the Saxon. It is curious that our own language, which we know to be so consistent and harmonious, had formerly the same reproach of incongruity cast on it. called it an ignoble and barbarous mixture of jarring materials; to which justly replied, that although English is compounded of different languages, they have been completely fused into one