Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Chapter III
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
living nat uke V. dead languages. 53
history, the laws and phenomena of creation, were
made the leading objects of study, instead of the
obscenities of Jupiter and Co. and the poetic laudations
of Roman rapine and Greek treachery: all of which
might with much advantage be buried in the darkness
~ o
of popular oblivion, and the keys of their sepulchre
left in charge of a few special antiquarians. The
languages in which they are written—or, at any rate,
the stilted, pompous Latin that has been so long dead,
might now be buried also; and the mental health
of our modern youth would be much benefited by
such disposal of the carcass. The fact that a language,
spread by conquest to such an unprecedented extent,
should so soon have died, and died so hopelessly, in
spite of popes, and priests, and pedants, is a proof of
its inherent unfitness for human speech. The sweet
and vigorous Italian, and the gorgeous Spanish, which
have risen from its ashes, are as much superior to the
dead parent as modern social institutions are to those of
ancient Rome.
Among the birds Mr. Gould had shot, were some
that live in England during the winter, and come to
Norway for their summer vacation. Like our own
species, who visit the fashionable holiday-places, these
birds adopt bright varied colours for their summer
dress; and to secure and preserve them in their summer
costume, was, I believe, one of Mr. Gould’s special
objects in visiting Norway.
At this place I had an actual dinner, oft" a joint
of roast veal, with rich sauce and potatoes, besides
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
