ghly understood without Latin, because the great source of law,
the Roman code, is written in Latin, and is in many points
untranslatable. Further, it is contended that Greek philosophy cannot
be fully mastered without a knowledge of the language of Plato and
Aristotle. But an argument that is reduced to these examples must be
near its vanishing point. Not one of the cases stands a rigorous
scrutiny; and they are not relied upon as the main justification of the
continuance of classics. A new line of defence is opened up which was
not at all present to the minds of sixteenth century scholars. We are
told of numerous indirect and secondary advantages of cultivating
language in general and the classic languages in particular, which make
the acquisition a rewarding labour, even without one particle of the
primary use. But for these secondary advantages, languages could have no
claim to appear, with such enormous values, in the Civil Service scheme.

[LANGUAGE MAY HAVE SECONDARY USES.]

My purpose requires me to advert in these alleged secondary uses of
language, not, however, for the view of counter-arguing them, but rather
in order to indicate what seems to me the true mode of bringing them to
the proof.

The most usual phraseology for describing the indirect benefit of
languages is, that they supply a _training_ to the powers of the mind;
that, if not information, they are _culture_; that they re-act upon our
mastery of our own language, and so on. It is quite necessary, however,
to find phrases more definite and tangible than the slippery words
"culture" and "training": we must know precisely what particular powers
or aptitudes are increased by the study of a foreign language.
Nevertheless, the conclusions set forth in this paper do not require me
to work out an exhaustive review of these advantages. It is enough to
give as many as will serve for examples.

Now, it must be freely admitted as a possible case, that a practice
introduced in the first instance for a particular purpose, may be found
applicable to many other purposes; so much so, that, ceasing to be
employed for the original use, the practice may be kept up for the sake
of the after uses. For example, clothing was no doubt primarily
contrived for warmth; but it is not now confined to that: decoration or
ornament, distinction of sexes, ranks and offices, modesty--are also
attained by means of clothes. This example is a suggestive one. We have
only to suppos