XLIV ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
greater still as a part of the British Empire. Such thoughts are forced 
powerfully upon us by all that is passing around us. But, for the 
moment, we are thinking of our literary work; and I wish more particu- 
larly to draw attention to a work on behalf of English language and 
literature in which we Canadians may render a powerful assistance. 
There is a danger—it has often been recognized and pointed out—of 
our language becoming deteriorated by the introduction of foreign 
elements, and even by the reception of terms and phrases from the great 
Republic beside us. Let us not be misunderstood. I do not forget, 
for a moment, that the best American authors write English as pure and 
as good as the best English writers; but this is because they write 
English and not American. So far as there is an American language, 
it is inferior to classical English ; and even good American writers have 
peculiarities not found in good English writers. For example, not one 
American in ten properly distinguishes the use of shall and will in speak- 
ing or writing; and it is very much the same with us in Canada. We 
have got it, as probably they have done, from Scotland and Ireland. 
It is not quite easy for us or for those living in Great Britain to 
detect the introduction of foreign and corrupting elements. The lan- 
guage of our times is like the air that we breathe: it surrounds us, it 
enters into us, it becomes part of us. Yet we may learn a lesson from 
what is going on in other languages. Take, as an example, that beau- 
tiful language which is spoken by so many of our fellow Canadians. It 
is probable that an ordinary Parisian would be conscious of no great 
changes from the language of a century or two centuries ago. How 
does it strike English-speaking men or women ? We who are familiar 
with the perfect French of Pascal, Bossuet, Moliére, Le Sage, and Vol- 
taire—we need go no further, you may find better examples, if you can— 
how does the French of the ordinary French novel of the day strike us? 
We say, it is a worse language, it has deteriorated. Shall we go further? 
—hby reason of the introduction of strange and foreign elements into it 
it has got vulgarized. We who speak English habitually are not aware 
of any change having passed upon it; but how does it strike others ? 
And how does our ordinary Canadian language strike the most highly 
educated Englishman ? Undoubtedly, the ordinary spoken language 
of Canada is purer than the ordinary language of England. Is the best 
here equal to the best there—to any great extent? Looking at the 
influence of the American language upon us, we become aware of two 
different elements in it. In the first place, there are a good many sur- 
vivals in the American language—words which have become obsolete 
in England, either in use or in application, but have retained their place 
