JULY — SEPT. 1857.] The Sludtj of Lhing Languages, 251 
2nd. In the knowledge of the true value of a stock of words. 
3rd. In that of a good amount of Grammar. 
4th. In that of a large stock of bona fide Native expressions. 
Is not this principle undeniable ? Does a drawing master tell 
his pupil, Go and make rude and absurd drawings of a hand or 
a foot, and then occupy yourself in unlearning the habit you have 
been acquiring, or does he set before his pupil a true represen- 
tative of a thing, and say, Imitate this, with the most earnest and 
close attention and never ^ake a line without referring to the 
standard ? Which pupil would make the greatest progress and 
which would be*i?iost likely to attain to perfection in his study, — 
one who was alway? trying to make rude drawings of a foot out 
of his own imagination and then laboring to correct them, or 
one who did not attempt to invent at all, but kept exercising 
himself in imitating a correct representation of a foot. 
6th " Be very careful in noting down differences in idiom 
between your own language and Tamil. If you hear much Chris- 
tian or Cutcherry Tamil, beware of thinking all you hear to be 
really Tamil. Try to cultivate a Tamil ear, so as to detect an 
unidiomatic expression as you would a false note in music. You 
should understand all you hear ; you need not use any expression 
that is not good Tamil." 
I would only ask how a student can possibly learn to distinguish 
between true language and false, except by learning the true, and. 
taking care as far as possible not to come in contact with false 
language, whether coming from himself or any body else, till he 
has acquired a sound taste and judgment, by a confirmed know- 
ledge of the true language. 
The simple rule is, Learn the true language, and then you will 
not waste your time in acquiring and trying to unlearn a false one. 
Sow clean wheat in your ground, and not wheat and weeds mixed 
together, and then you will not require to employ all thg season in 
trying in vain to root out the weeds which you have yourself 
sown. 
It is this sort of instructions, continually inserted in books of 
instruction in languages, and which are directly opposed to well 
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