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Show REVIVAL OF CLASSIC GREEK Western Newspaper Welcomes Pos. sibility of Its Becoming, in Time, a World Language. Were one to judge from the fuss made from time to time, one would suppose there was real need of an international in-ternational language. In the golden age of the English language the great queen addressed the ambassador at her court In Latin, and all diplomatic conversation and correspondence of Europe was in Latin. Erasmus, the great scholar and writer, who visited the court of Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, wrote Latin works that produced pro-duced an effect comparable to that produced by the writings of Voltaire two centuries later. Much pains have been expended in fabricating artificial language, such as Esperanto, to serve as the medium of communication. But such constructions construc-tions have no chance of practical adoption, adop-tion, nor could they answer as well as actual language whether dead like Latin or living like English. There is a language, however, which Is gradually becoming again a living one, and which as a world language lan-guage would be ideal. The Greek universities uni-versities and Greek men of culture, including Venizelos himself, are engaged en-gaged in an attempt to restore classical classi-cal purity and perfection to modern Greek. It is said that the endeavor is by no means vain, and that gradually gradu-ally the ancient model is being approached. ap-proached. We may yet have the speech of Pericles, the written language of I'lato, employed iii social intercourse and commercial transactions, In contracts, con-tracts, in courts of law, in houses of assembly. Minneapolis Journal. |