Page:Christian Greece and Living Greek.djvu/265

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GREEK AS INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE. 243 Nothing is easier than the proof that the Greek is not a dead language. The daily Greek newspapers published at the present time prove that the Greek language of to-day is still the same Greek of the classical age, showing merely such differences as each living language under- goes in the course of time. Look, for instance, into the Katpoi^ published in Athens. Whoever has been instructed merely at school, on behold- ing for the first time this paper, will be agree- ably surprised to find that he is able to under- stand its contents without any difficulty. A better and more convincing proof can hardly be imagined. The fact that the Greek language alone has preserved itself almost unchanged through thou- sands of years in its original beauty is, in my opinion, as a modern Greek writer expresses himself : " 616x1 TO oipalov elvat uaav Xaf^-ipig tov rjTiiov ettI rijq yrjQ^ 6i6ri TO opaiov ^y alcoviug." The Greek language has been transmitted to- gether with its pronunciation. The majority of the Greek people, kept in bondage since the mediaeval age until 1822, were altogether unable either to read or write. Much has been said garrulously about the de-