the future, but the universal
language which must spread all over the world and supersede and drive
out all others by a kind of survival of the fittest. This notion of a
universal language is now everywhere regarded as a delusion, but at that
time there was still thought by many to be a kind of special procreative
activity in the communities of Anglo-Saxon origin which would naturally
tend to replace all other peoples, both the people and the language
being regarded as the fittest to survive.[239] English was, however,
rightly felt to be a language with very great force behind it, being
spoken by vast communities possessing a peculiarly energetic and
progressive temperament, and with much power of peaceful penetration in
other lands. It is generally acknowledged also that English fully
deserves to be ranked as one of the first of languages by its fine
aptitude for powerful expression, while at the same time it is equally
fitted for routine commercial purposes. The wide extension of English
and its fine qualities have often been emphasized, and it is unnecessary
to dwell on them here. The decision of the scientific societies of the
world to use English for bibliographical purposes is not entirely a
tribute to English energy in organization, but to the quality of the
language. One finds, indeed, that these facts are widely recognized
abroad, in France and elsewhere, though I have noted that those who
foretell the conquest of English, even when they are men of intellectual
distinction and able to read English, are often quite unable to speak it
or to understand it when spoken.

That brings us to a point which is overlooked by those who triumphantly
pointed to the natural settlement of this question by the swamping of
other tongues in the overflowing tide of English speech. English is the
most concise and laconic of the great languages. Greek, French and
German are all more expansive, more syllabically copious. Latin alone
may be said to equal, or surpass English in concentration, because,
although Latin words are longer on the average, by their greater
inflection they cover a larger number of English words. This power of
English to attain expression with a minimum expenditure of energy in
written speech is one of its chief claims to succeed Latin as the
auxiliary international language. But it furnishes no claim to
preference for actual speaking, in which this economy of energy ceases
to be a supreme virtue, since here we