LANGUAGE-PEOPLE-MONEY 7 



more interesting and commanding place 

 than at this time. The language and 

 dialects are written and spoken by the 

 greatest number of the inhabitants of the 

 world, are the medium for transmitting 

 their ideas and are more widely diffused 

 than any other. The books written in it 

 have more readers than the books written 

 in any other, and there are no people so 

 completely under the influence of their 

 literature as are the Chinese. Confucius 

 lived twenty-four hundred years ago, but 

 his writings are still the classics of China, 

 the source and foundation of Chinese law, 

 and the standard by which all rights and 

 punishments are measured. The writings 

 of this author, among the Chinese, take the 

 place of the books on religion, and have 

 modeled the form of their government as 

 well as defined and regulated authority. 



The foreigner who knows the mandarin 

 dialect has an advantage over the foreigner 

 in China who does not know it ; the former 

 acquires information by communicating 

 directly with the natives, which is to be 

 preferred, however proficient and reliable 

 may be the interpreter. And in undertaking 



