Persian, Sanscrit, and, with the exception of Ethiopian, the Semitic languages (Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldean, Phenician, and ancient Arabic,) preserved the direction from right to left. Different from these, some languages, among which may be mentioned the Chinese, Japanese, Mongolese, and Manchou-Tartaric, are written vertically, as was also the ancient Mexican. The alphabetical and horizontal writing from left to right is, at the present day, almost universally adopted.

CHAPTER II.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES (ANCIENT AND MODERN).

SECT. I.-BENEFITS ARISING FROM THE STUDY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES.

THE history of languages has established this remarkable fact, that, in the course of time, as civilisation advances among nations, their original idioms are gradually abandoned for others less inflected, more simple, and more elliptical, which serve as vehicles of communication in ordinary life; whilst these original idioms, as the depositories of national and religious traditions, become classical and sacred symbols for the exclusive use of the learned, and especially the clergy. The mental culture which is promoted by the act of learning to understand these dead languages, and to use them for the expression of thought, tends also to make them the basis of intellectual education. This happens to be the case with the ancient idioms of the Jews, Copts, Chinese, Mongolese, Hindoos, Persians, and other Asiatic nations, as well as with some of the ancient European languages, and more particularly with the Greek and Latin, which have assumed a very extensive field of action in the education of youth.

Ethnography, the classification of nations founded on a corresponding classification of languages, has disclosed the existence of nearly two thousand languages, and five thousand dialects,* the greater number of which do not become objects of study, except in rare cases. Of this prodigious number of idioms a few extend over the surface of the globe, and divide, with Latin and Greek, the attention of students. Of these few, ten belong to Europe, namely, the French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Russian; and nine to Asia, namely, the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Persian, Chinese, Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, and Hindoostanee, one of its modern dialects.

The mode of acquiring language varies with the peculiar * See Adrien Balbi, Atlas Ethnographique du Globe.

circumstances of the learners, and according as it is a native or a foreign language. Nature provides abundant means of initiating us into the former; art must supply the method by which the latter is to be attained. What this art is forms the principal question which we propose to solve in the present work.

The term foreign, as we employ it in its widest sense, in contradistinction to native, applies to any other language, whether it be ancient or modern.

In the ordinary circumstances of life the native tongue is acquired by practice alone; the foreign, through the native, and by comparison with it.

The acquisition of a foreign language through the native, presents many advantages, besides the habits of attention, application, and patient toil, which it forms, in common with other intellectual pursuits. We have already adverted to the superiority of this department of instruction over mathematics, considered as a means of mental training: all its beneficial results will be unfolded as we proceed; but we shall here briefly sum up the most prominent.

1. The study of a second language inures to mental exertion, produces distinctness and accuracy in thinking, and elevates the youthful mind by bringing it into habitual communion with the minds of great writers; it evolves a quick apprehension, an acute discrimination, a patient process of comparison and analogy. It enriches the memory, expands the imagination, invigorates the judgment, and refines the taste in literary matters, by critical analysis of highly finished composition, the force and beauty of which cannot be adequately conveyed by translation. But it not only cultivates the mental powers by means of the various exercises requisite for the complete attainment of a language, it also exercises them in a manner perfectly analogous to their action in the ordinary course of life.

2. This study enriches the native vocabulary of the learner, and improves his power of composition in the national tongue, by practice in searching for native words and expressions to translate those of the foreign authors; while the peculiar excellences of these authors illustrate the principles which render language clear, forcible, and beautiful.

3. It turns our attention to the formation and connection of ideas, to the nature and mechanism of language; and, by constant comparison of two idioms, teaches general and particular grammar. Thus the acquisition of one foreign language facilitates

the learning of others, both from similarity of grammatical principles, and from the habits of study to which the mind is trained by that first acquisition.

4. It tends to engrave on the mind the subjects of which foreign authors treat, by the close attention required in translating them, and by the repetition necessary to impress their language on the memory. Hence, without losing sight of the main object, it brings under the consideration of the learners many useful branches of instruction, and lessons of morality. It is the ground-work of every species of human knowledge: the study of a science may, to a great extent, be said to consist in learning the true and full import of its nomenclature.

5. The knowledge of foreign languages multiplies the sources of information and intellectual enjoyments, by opening to its possessor new fields of science and literature; and, as it extends oral and written communication between men of different countries, it promotes the advancement of learning and the progress of the arts. If it were generally spread among nations, it would considerably facilitate their social, commercial, and political intercourse; and would thereby tend to unite them by the strong ties of mutual services and common advantage.

6. It extends our acquaintance with human nature by exhibiting, as elicited in their idioms, the peculiarities of character, custom, and civilisation of men in different latitudes. It brings under our notice many ideas and sentiments conveyed by expressions for which there are no equivalents in the vernacular tongue.)

7. From the affinity which exists between different dialects, an acquaintance with the ancient idioms, especially, opens the rich fields of comparative philology, and leads to the solution of historical questions concerning the origin and filiation of nations, a philosophical investigation in which we have no other guide but the evidence of language.

8. Familiarity with foreign literature tends to destroy national prejudice, by unfolding, as sanctioned by enlightened communities, principles of conduct, morality, and politics, differing from those we have been accustomed to regard as exclusively correct; it guards us from attributing universally to human nature tastes, feelings, opinions, and motives of action which belong only to our age and country; it brings us nearer to truth by the examination, in different lights, of the various departments of knowledge; it enlarges our sympathies as it expands our minds,

and does away with that Chinese-like contempt for other nations, which is usually entertained by those whose sphere of thought does not extend beyond the narrow limits of their own experience. In short, exemption from prejudice, tolerance, and benevolence to all men, take the place of presumption, intolerance, and narrowminded patriotism.

All languages are not equally favourable for effecting these various objects. The ancient idioms, for example, being now seldom used as vehicles of intellectual communication, do not present so extensive a field of usefulness as the modern, which are both spoken and written. Among the modern languages, also, many belong to nations whose backwardness in civilisation, and poverty in literature, render them but feeble auxiliaries in the acquisition of useful knowledge, the formation of taste, or the discipline of the mental faculties.

SECT. II. ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGES COMPARED AS BRANCHES OF INSTRUCTION.

The parallel which we propose to draw between the classical ancient and the modern languages of Europe refers solely to the advantages to be derived from them, considered as subjects of instruction. But, although we will not investigate the claims which either may have to superiority as vehicles of thought, we may observe, that, if the dispute which arose in France in the seventeenth century, respecting the comparative excellence of the ancient or of the modern writers, were now renewed, the immense progress made since by modern literature would secure to the modern languages a favourable position in the contest. For our part, we strongly incline to believe that England, France, Germany, and Italy now possess writers and orators who may successfully compete with those of antiquity.

The principal languages of modern Europe claim more attention than those of antiquity; because an acquaintance with them is useful to a more extensive range of persons, and to both sexes. The Greeks and Romans were, it is true, our first masters; they opened to us the road to the arts and sciences; but the progress which we have since made has left them far behind us in almost everything which can contribute to the improvement of society and the comforts of life. The works which they have transmitted to us have no direct bearing on the studies and duties of our