Andevenofthosewho,withoutbeinggreatscholars,attainacertaingeneralacquaintancewiththeancientwriters,canitreallybesaidthattheyhavealsoobtainedthemasteryofEnglish?HowmanyyounggentlementherearefromtheuniversitiesandpublicschoolswhocanturnaLatinversewithafacilitywhichwouldmaketheoldRomanssquirmintheirtombs.Howfewtherearewhocanconstructafewgoodsentences,orstilllessafewgoodparagraphsofplain,correct,andstraightforwardEnglish.Now,IamagreatadmireroftheGreeks,although,ofcourse,Ihavetodependuponwhatotherstellmeaboutthem,—andIwouldliketoseeoureducationistsimitateinonerespect,atleast,theGreekexample.HowisitthattheGreeksmadetheirlanguagethemostgracefulandcompendiousmodeofexpressioneverknownamongmen?Didtheyspendalltheirtimestudyingthelanguageswhichhadprecededtheirs?Didtheyexplorewithtirelesspersistencytheancientrootdialectsofthevanishedworld?Notatall.TheystudiedGreek.Theystudiedtheirownlanguage.Theylovedit,theycherishedit,theyadornedit,theyexpandedit,andthatiswhyitsurvivesamodelanddelighttoallposterity.Surelywe,whosemother-tonguehasalreadywonforitselfsuchanunequalledempireoverthemodernworld,canlearnthislessonatleastfromtheancientGreeksandbestowalittlecareandsomeproportionoftheyearsofeducationtothestudyofalanguagewhichisperhapstoplayapredominantpartinthefutureprogressofmankind.
Letusremembertheauthorcanalwaysdohisbest.Thereisnoexcuseforhim.Thegreatcricketermaybeoutofform.Thegeneralmayonthedayofdecisivebattlehaveabadtoothacheorabadarmy.Theadmiralmaybeseasick—asasuffererIref?lectwithsatisfactionuponthatcontingency.Carusomaybeaff?lictedwithcatarrh,orHackenschmidtwithinf?luenza.Asforanorator,itisnotenoughforhimtobeabletothinkwellandtruly.Hemustthinkquickly.Speedisvitaltohim.Spontaneityismorethaneverthehallmarkofgoodspeaking.Allthesevariedforcesofactivityrequirefromtheperformerthecommandofthebestthatisinhimataparticularmomentwhichmaybef?ixedbycircumstancesutterlybeyondhiscontrol.Itisnotsowiththeauthor.Heneedneverappearinpublicuntilheisready.Hecanalwaysrealizethebestthatisinhim.Heisnotdependentuponhisbestmomentinanyoneday.Hemaygrouptogetherthebestmomentsoftwentydays.Thereisnoexcuseforhimifhedoesnotdohisbest.Greatishisopportunity;greatalsoishisresponsibility.Someone—Iforgetwho—hassaid:Wordsaretheonlythingslastforever.Thatis,tomymind,alwaysawonderfulthought.Themostdurablestructuresraisedinstonebythestrengthofman,themightiestmonumentsofhispower,crumbleintodust,whilethewordsspokenwithf?leetingbreath,thepassingexpressionoftheunstablefanciesofhismind,endurenotasechoesofthepast,notasmerearchaeologicalcuriositiesorvenerablerelics,butwithaforceandlifeasnewandstrong,andsometimesfarstrongerthanwhentheyweref?irstspoken,andleapingacrossthegulfofthreethousandyears,theylighttheworldforustoday.