Nobody will question that it was the medium of print that then 
gave the vernaculars new functions, and utterly changed the 
uses and relevance of Latin. By the eighteenth century, on the 
other hand, the relations between language, religion, and 
politics had clarified. Language had become religion, in France 
at least.

          If the original Jacobins were sluggish in translating 
     all their theories of education into action, they were 
     prompt to recognize the significance of language as the 
     basis of nationality and to try to compel all inhabitants of 
     France to use the French language. They contended that 
     successful rule by “the people” and united action by the 
     nation were dependent, not only on a certain uniformity 
     of habits and customs, but even more on an identity of 
     ideas and ideals which could be effected by speeches, the