He had some knowledge of the English language, having once lived for a short time in England.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States From the Earliest Beginning down to the Year 1848 by George T. (George Tobias) Flom

The frantic efforts which they make to enter this circle, the meannesses to which they submit, the insults which they undergo, are matters of wonder to those who take human or womankind for a study; and the pursuit of fashion under difficulties would be a fine theme for any very great person who had the wit, the leisure, and the knowledge of the English language necessary for the compiling of such a history.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

So they were roaming about the world seeking and searching for this beauty, and, after having successively rejected the Queen of Golconda, the Princess of Trebizonde, the daughter of the Grand Khan of Tartary, etc., Labor and Clergy, Nobility and Merchandise, had come to rest upon the marble table of the Palais de Justice, and to utter, in the presence of the honest audience, as many sentences and maxims as could then be dispensed at the Faculty of Arts, at examinations, sophisms, determinances, figures, and acts, where the masters took their degrees.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young Mohican, betraying his knowledge of the English language as well as of the other's meaning; but he suffered it to pass away without vindication of reply.
— from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper

Nothing is known of the earlier life of Lassenius.
— from Vitus Bering: the Discoverer of Bering Strait by Peter Lauridsen

In the charter of incorporation, Knights of Justice and Ladies of Justice were permitted to place as a chief over their arms the augmentation anciently used by knights of the English language of the original Roman Catholic Celibate Order.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

Mr. Hemster desires to use my knowledge of the Eastern languages and my experience in Oriental diplomacy.
— from A Chicago Princess by Robert Barr

They also mention that Margaret, a daughter of O'Connor Faly, went to England, "relying on the number of her friends and relatives there, and her knowledge of the English language, to request Queen Mary to restore her father to her."
— from An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 by Mary Frances Cusack

For of course the knowledge of the exact latitude and longitude of every place whence numerous observations have been taken must be an essential to the full interpretation of those observations.
— from Pioneers of Science by Lodge, Oliver, Sir

About the same proportion were foreigners who had not sufficient knowledge of the English language to enable them to learn their duties.
— from The Chautauquan, Vol. 04, May 1884, No. 8 by Chautauqua Institution

It is but little that we know of the early life of this remarkable man.
— from Miles Standish, the Puritan Captain by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott

For instance, one of the teachers was teaching Anson's Law of Contract; one could scarcely see how a knowledge of the English law of contract could be very beneficial to a resident in China; and on looking over the book that another class was using, I found that they were being instructed how to buy an advowson in England.
— from Changing China by Cecil, Florence Mary (Bootle-Wilbraham), Lady

Moreover, the Indians most familiar with them have not a sufficient knowledge of the English language to be able to express their ideas clearly.
— from Indians of the Yosemite Valley and Vicinity Their History, Customs and Traditions by Galen Clark

The polarising Nicol’s prism is placed at C, and the double quartz plate at D. The receptacle h contains the tube P filled with sugar solution, and is provided with the hinged cover h´ , which serves to keep out the external light while an observation is being taken.
— from Food Adulteration and Its Detection With photomicrographic plates and a bibliographical appendix by Jesse P. (Jesse Park) Battershall

As he answered to the captain's orders, he spoke in broken accents, indicating but little knowledge of the English language.
— from Manuel Pereira; Or, The Sovereign Rule of South Carolina by F. Colburn (Francis Colburn) Adams