i873«J The Future of the English Language. 375 



America Spanish is the common language, and in Brazil 

 10,000,000 persons use the Portuguese ; but neither of these 

 have any propagandist power, and they will not improbably 

 disappear before the more energetic English speech. The 

 German-speaking peoples have no colonies or dependencies ; 

 those of France are unimportant ; whilst those of Great 

 Britain are scattered over every part of the globe. The 

 British Empire covers nearly a third of the earth's surface, 

 and British subjects are nearly a fourth of the population of 

 the world. The native races of India, numbering 190,000,000 

 human beings, are governed by a mere handful of English- 

 men ; and it would be no new thing in the world's history if 

 these subject: races were to learn and adopt the language of 

 their conquerors. That our language and literature are ex- 

 tensively cultivated by the educated natives already we 

 know ; but how long it may take before scholastic agencies 

 reach the great mass of the people it is hard to say. 



The widespread territorial influence of the British Empire 

 must inevitably aid in extending the boundaries of the lan- 

 guage, and another element of equal importance is the 

 extent of our commercial intercourse with other nations, 

 owing to the restless energy of our people, who are to be found 

 wherever dash and endurance are needed. The adoption of 

 the English language by the immense population of Japan 

 has been seriously considered by the governors of that 

 nation. 



Such, then, is the position of the English language at 

 the present day. It is spoken by a larger number of persons 

 than any other civilised language, and those who speak it 

 have proved themselves to be the most energetic, enter- 

 prising, and successful of modern races. The English race 

 has fuller opportunities for further extension and develop- 

 ment than any other. It is therefore of importance to 

 ascertain if this language which has these external advan- 

 tages possesses also the internal qualities necessary for the 

 common language of civilisation. The civilisation and 

 science of to-day are due mainly to the Latin and Teutonic 

 races. The Sclavonic nations may have a great part to play 

 in the future, but so far, their influence upon the literature 

 and learning of the world has not been great. That 

 language which is to be dominant must, ? as De Candolle has 

 already said, have sufficient of Latin and German forms 

 and words to show a genuine affinity with both those 

 families of speech. Beyond this, it should be clear, simple, 

 and brief. 



A glance at the history of our language will show how 



