And what a noble medium the English language is. It is not possible to write a page without experiencing positive pleasure at the richness and variety， the flexibility and the profoundness of our mother-togue. If an English writer cannot say what he has to say in English， and in simple English， depend upon it—it is probably not worth saying. What a pity it is that English is not more generally studied. I am not going to attack classical education. No one who has the slightest pretension to literary tastes can be insensible to the attraction of Greece and Rome. But I confess our present educational system excites in my mind grave misgivings. I cannot believe that a system is good， or even reasonable， which thrusts upon reluctant and uncomprehending multitudes of treasures which can only be appreciated by the privileged and gifted few. To the vast majority of boys who attend our public schools a classical education is from beginning to end one long useless， meaningless rigmarole. If I am told that classes are the best preparation for the study of English， I reply that by far the greater number of students finish their education while this preparatory stage is still incomplete and without deriving any of the benefits which are promised as its result.
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 good paragraphs of plain， correct， and straightforward English. Now， 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.