APPENDIX A si XLV 
the opinion,—‘‘Believes that every Anglo-Canadian should be able 
to speak French.” My exclamation was, —"Extremely sensible; 
he thinks as I do.” In the Report of the Ontario Minister of Educa- 
tion for 1913 I find the following statistics respecting the total attend- 
ance in the collegiate institutes, high schools, and continuation schools 
of Ontario, and the numbers taking the various languages studied: 
attendance, 39,290; French, 25,969; German, 5,219; Latin, 28,644; 
Greek, 602. You see that Greek even as a dead language, is under- 
going a further process of mortification. You note further that five 
times as many take French as take German, though practically in 
the secondary and university curricula the same importance attaches 
to both: pupils take French by preference. You further observe 
that Latin is the language studied by the greatest number. Yet 
of the twenty-eight thousand six hundred taking that language 
scarcely half a dozen, after leaving their schools or universities, will 
ever lift a Latin book for the pleasure of reading it. They take 
Latin because it is a necessary part of the curriculum without an 
alternative. One naturally asks is the study of Latin the most 
profitable language study that could engage their attention. Of 
course for the most part those who are studying Latin are studying 
French also. I believe, however, that in the vast majority of cases 
the mental, energy consumed in assimilating the elements of Latin 
would be better employed in adding to their knowledge of French, 
so that they would have an easy reading knowledge of it. Even if no 
sacrifice of Latin were made I believe an increased attention to French 
by our English-speaking population would augment our intellectual 
assets. French is the one language other than English that is spoken 
to any notable extent north of Mexico. Itisspoken by over two million 
Canadians. It gives access to vast stores of scientific knowledge. 
It is the open sesame to a marvellous literature. Of the languages 
named it is the one most easily acquired by one whose native tongue 
is English. It is the language of our Dominion Parliament and of our 
Royal Society equally with English. It has in a remarkable way 
influenced English ‘literature. It is of assistance in acquiring other 
Romance languages. As a minor matter, in that it does not concern 
any large body of our people, it is valuable in European travel. Facility 
in two languages is supposed to and does give a mental flexibility of 
distinct educational value. To speak in two languages with us is 
almost monopolised by French-Canadians. Why should not so 
great an intellectual asset be largely cultivated by other Canadians. 
France is possibly approaching the most brilliant period in her wonder- 
ful history, her most splendid triumphs in science, in literature, and 
in art. The relations of the British Empire with France will be 
