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7.

Let me in conclusion repeat what I have said often since
I came to Canada. Here we have two great heritages, the English and
the French tongues, two of the greatest that have been given to the
human race. It is our business to respect them. English is capable
of expressing the loftiest thoughts of mankind, the profoundest depths
of human passion, and every shade of the human comedy. There is nothing
you cannot do with it. But to get the value out of it you must
respect structure. You must keep it tight and compact and organic.
Your words must be like newly minted coins with a sharp and clear superscription,
and not so blurred and rubbed by common use that the
meaning is effaced. We should all be full of loyalties. We should
all regard it as our duty to hand on what has been bequeathed to us by
our fathers unimpaired to our children. Among these duties and loyalties
I think we should include a scrupulous regard for what is one of
the most sacred possessions of our people, the English language and
the great tradition of our English literature.

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