THE GREAT MANUSCRIPT 



With all its lubricity, then, mind is at once 

 the most ductile, as well as the strongest 

 force known to man. Even had it done noth- 

 ing else, how stupendous are its achieve- 

 ments through thousands of languages, made 

 marvelously effective by its joint action with 

 the emotional troops drafted into its service. 

 Let one draw aside for a moment the heavy 

 veil of familiarity which hides most of the 

 wonders of the world, including those 

 wrought by man, and consider how like a 

 tale of enchantment is the history of alpha- 

 bets and what man has done with them. 

 What other finite force in the universe, save 

 mind, and its dynamic partner, the heart, 

 could breathe the breath of life into a small 

 collection of immaterial symbols and knit 

 them together into syllables, words, and sen- 

 tences that pulse with tenderness, throb with 

 passion, or glow white with the highest 

 aspirations of the spirit? 



Whatever the mind may grasp from the 

 boundless realms which are its empire, what- 

 ever the emotions of the heart, love or pity, 

 hate or scorn, hope or fear, language has 



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