6. Last, though not the least of the reasons here given for the study of German, is that which arises from its relationship to our own English tongue. Both the German and the Saxon are the descendants of the old Gothic, the language of Ulfilas, in which he wrote the famous “Codex Argentens.” It is estimated that thirty per cent. of our English is of Saxon origin, enough to establish a strong connection, making cousins, at least, between English and German. Thus we observe that many of the commonest household words are often the same in sound, and many times in orthography. To the philologist such relations and correspondences are of great interest and importance. They furnish some explanation of the resemblances to be observed between the race, types, usages, and domestic institutions.
HINTS TO BEGINNERS IN THE STUDY OF NEW TESTAMENT GREEK.—II.
By Rev. ALFRED A. WRIGHT, A.M.[J]
3. Moments Undervalued.—A young collegiate of our acquaintance during his four years’ course read every word in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, correcting his spelling and his pronunciation thereby, and acquired an almost inexhaustible fund of information as to the derivation of words. It was all done in odd moments; scraps of time useless for regular work; time that some people spend in gossip, yawns, plannings to vault to the moon, or in misanthropy.
A German critic memorized every line of Homer’s Iliad while going from one medical patient to another.
Bishop Gilbert Haven dropped quills from a flying wing as he flew across continents and seas, and the snowy feathers fell in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York.
Moments are gold dust. Sweep every one up. The assayer washes his hands in water that is carefully saved. His men at the benches save every filing of the precious ore. His shop boy sweeps the very dirt into a safe. His workmen clean their feet upon a mat as they go home from work. All this to save a little gold. And yet that gold is worth, in large establishments, more than one thousand dollars annually.
You can learn Greek by saving minutes. And the mental discipline gained in the endeavor will in itself be worth a fortune to you. You will learn to save moments on other accounts.
Henry Clay, speaking about courtesies of a trivial character as affording gratification to others, says, “It is the picayune compliments which are most appreciated.” He does not give us the philosophy of the fact. Possibly it is to be found in this, that we all have an abundance of this small change, and fling it forth as being valueless. But “picayune” moments must be better treated.