Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, November 18, 1877, Page 11

. dn 11 BOSTON. The Radical Club Has Xts First Meeting of the Seasori? £ A Tribute to Mr. Sargent from Dr, Bartol and Mr. Channing. ® Whittier, the Poet, Invokes a Quaker Benediction. Reminiscences of Charles Sumner--- His Life and Letters. ¥, P. Willis Again Presented as a Quesr Fellow—Other Truthful Portraits, . From Our Qun Correspondent. Bostos, Nov. 14.—*The Irreverend Bom- pastes Cook,” as s critic bas recently termed the Monday lecturer, bas been 2 false prophict, as a good many persons have begun to find ont, upen wany and various subjects, and upon none more notably than when, in that sweeping speech a month ago, hie declared that the Radi- cal Club was no more. _Several timesin several years before bias the culogy of the dead Ragical Club been read by one and another, but never with such a rousing and rushiug blare of trum- pets as that by the “lrreverend Bombastes.” Yet in the teeth of all this, on Monday morning of this week. up at the old familiar place on Chestout street, the first meeting of the Radical Club for this scason came off. And a goodly meeting it was. Let us look at the audience, and count faces that are known to the world. There 15 Dr. Bartol, Mr. Weiss, and Mr. Wasson, Col. Higginson, Prof. Everctt of Harvard, Pres- jdent Warrea of the Boston University and Prof. Wright of Andover. Prof. Howison of the School of Technology, the Rev. Mr. Chaumiug of England, James Freeman Clarke, the Rev. Franas Peabody, 2nd 1ast, but a rarer presence bere than all the rest, JONN G. WHITTIER, THE QUAKER POET. This array docs not look as if the Radical Club was, 10 comparison to the rest of Boston, according to Mr. Cook, “like the Merrimac to the Mississippi.” And if it were dead, certainly a livelier lot of distinguished ghosts were never gathered Lefore. Mrs. Sarzent had invited Dr. Barto), asthe Kinsman and dear friend of her deceased husband, to take his place as Chairman of the meeting. Dr. Bartol, on rising, alluded with ereat tenderness to the great honor which Mrs. Sargent had done him by this invitation, and thep spoke briefly of the history of the Club, saving, amongst other effects, that it had exer- cised snimportant influence on the Unitarian denomination. e also read a passage from an unpublished article of Mr. Sargent’s which de- serived the Club’s foundation. Mr. Channing then made an address commemorative of Mr. Sargent, spcakinz of him in his boyhood, aud early manbiood, and later maturity, with preat tenderness and regard, as always the gen- tleman and true man. Mr. Chanaing also read 2 poew of Mr. Sargent’s, and told the story of his carly acceptance of liberalism aud the re- forms of the hour which were dircetly in antac- ouist with the class in which he was born. To all outcasts, to the poor, and the neero in his days of slavery, Mr. Saraent always held out his yand. In conclusion, Mr. Channing summed up with much fervor by saying that our dead Lost was not dead but risen. Prof. Howison wwas the essayist of theday. His paper was A DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPRY and an examination of its proper methods, But in the cud, sb profound was it that the discus- gion, thuugh waxing warm, was not tie kind that is interesting when reported. Indecd, as some one said, nobody present seeined quite to have aereed in a definition of Prol. Howisun’s detinitions. At the dosing of the meeting Dr, Bartol asked Mr. Whittier to give the Club bis benediction, but the poet shook his head, and sat in sercne Quaker gilence, which was perhaps the Quaker way of asking a benediction. Col. Higminson eraciously remarked iu the pause ik:at Mr. Whittier’s presence brought the bene- diction of itsell. “Louking over the larze assemblage of dis- tinguished persous that morniog,”” said a frieud to me, *I thonght of vne who, like Mr, Sarzent., has risen and =one before, who once, 1 think only once, sat like a gjant in one of the front scats, and, like Mr. Whittier. modestly declined to speak, when, like Mr. Whittier, be was the tmost celebrated person present. This was Mr. Sumner.” P 1 too recall that morning,—it was six or seven years ago, I think. But Mr. Sumuer replied, not in Qualker silence, but in a few well-chiosen words. that be belonged only to the rear-euard on that occasion, and should not thivk of intruding bis words. We all smiled at this, be- cause each one of us would have been rejoiced to have heard the words of Cbarles Sumner. But he was wise. The speculations of philoso- hy and theolozy were Dot in Mr. Sumner’s ine, and he ko it. THERE WAS ANOTHER EPISODE of this far-away morning which is so intimately connected with Mr. Sargent that it specially de- serves place here in this refercnce to him. It was just after the Club had adjourned, and the few Wwho remained by invitation to lunch were conversing in the parlor. Of these were Cbarles Sumuer and Wendell Phillips. As they were standing apart at one moment talking together, Mr. Nargent. passing them, stopped a sccond or two, and. his face lighting'up with love and admiration, e put a hand upon the arm of each and, looking up at them, said, with a smile and an air of playtulness, something like this: that here were his two herocs. Both Sumper and Phillips smiled in Tesponse, and seemed to appreciate the under- current of fove 2nd faith that really moved the apyparently playful remark. This reminisceuce of Mr. Samner comes in vers pertinently when the two volumes of his life nuc{ letters are just now openiug anew the interest which everybody ance felt about everything concerning Charles Sumner. These books, which are as interesting as the Harriet Martipeau memoirs, can uever be found fault with, as thcee have been, by TIIE M0ST CAPTIOLS CRITIC o as being ill-natured or severe. Certainly, if we ‘may gather anything from a man’s correspond- ence, we may gather this of Charles Sumuer’s: The record of unalterably high thought and pure aspiration, which constantly places, by natural instinet, the personal ambition beneath the ab- stract prinaple, constantly subordinates self 10 the ideal and ideas of numanity. 1f any per- sou can read these Yolumes and believe THAT CHAKLES SUMNER COULD EVER MAVE BEEN FALSE in word or deed, T think that person very much 10 be pitied. Mistaken he doubtless was on oc- casions] but never false. He has been called also an egotist. This is so common an acctsa- tion from the touchy, half-in-earnest peoplc when they come in contact with a greal soul thoroughiy in carnest which cdnnot stop to pick and choose its ways of expression, that it ought not to count for much. And it does not, when eifted down to the root of it, for itfs then found that no one has ever heard Mr. Sumner boast of his personal successes, of the attentions that werc paid to him as Charles Sumuer, or of his own work as something to be vain of. He urged his views, or spoke of bis work, urgently snd forcibly, because they were the product of bis most earnest thouslt, and were, as e solemnly betieved, in the interesie of the hu- man race. At one of the carly periods of his Jife, when he was not a little restless and de- ressed by what seemed to him then his own ailure to place himself where he could use his powers uselully and fully, he writes thus TO #l1s BROTHER GEORGE, +who had applied for some oflice: 1 much regret your application. I do not know the office in the country that would induce me to make such an application for mysclf. Indeed, T do not know the oftice thut is worih asking for, ot asking any influence to procare. L is a forfeiture of mdependence, destructive to one's usefulness and happiness. Within 4 few daye. a pereon high in e1ation epoke to me_with regard to my receiving a certain otice (one which I should prefer over an¥ oice in the countrs with one exception). I toid bin that the appointment would be agreesble to me i 1t came unsolicited on my prt. This does not show much of the spirit of ego- 4ism, which is never delicate in its self-secking. To show his tenderness of Spirit, bere is an- other extract, from a letter to his brother: After an interval of two days, Iretam to you, mY dear George. I hope you will not think me Coul o uniing T what | hive Written on the oler eheet. Perhaps [ vslue too much (and yet caz Bnybods value 100 much) charity and kindimess in our ppreciztion of othere. This world is full of harshness, 1tis easier to cencure than 1o Drais the former is a granfication of our eclf-estecm: while to praise ceems, with minds 100 ambitions #nd nngencrous, s tacit admiesion of supenority. 1t is a bape of society, wherever I have known it, — tod here in Boston 25 much as in London, —a per- petual sceking tor something which will disparage or make ridiculons our neigbbors. Their conduct i% canvassed, and mean and sclfish motives are at- tributed to them. Their foibles are dracged into v, 1 do not bosst myself to be free from biame on this account; zndyet I try to find what i€ good and beautiful in all that I see. and 1o judge my fei- iow-creatures as I wonld have them judge m Tnere is a verse in Pope’s *‘Tniversl Prayer ~hichisfallof beauty. Iwish it were gravenon tablets In all our churches. Yo {or quoting what is to you 80 trits ‘Teach me to an To hide lhr’(elfl.ll lnsllhtc:r i ‘That mercy ] to others show, ; That mercy show 10 1n When in Europe, 1mingled in different coun- tries with people’ of various characters. 1 am shankfni that my impressious ‘of all the countrics thut I saw, and of marniy peaple in those countrie are agreeable. 1 received much kindness: for this | 1 am grateful. Not that I did nol sce much mis- ery, much coarseness, much igoorance, much want of refincment, much injustice: but amons indi- viduals of ail countrice I found precious human sympathies. and cultivation that adorned them. You think I look buck upon England with (oo warm feelingy of regard. Do you know my opin‘ons of Enzlish policy and ‘of the Enghsh Governmentt Wath these 1 certalnly fecl loss sympathy. than with the French. Lut shoula T mot love my friends? Should I ot love those minds that kave enriched our comwon lanzuage with their bigh fancica, their glowing thonghts, heir leamned ex- pusitions? - And can I confine my regards to those few whose tastcs and studics have conducted {hem in the fame path with myself? Noj 1 rejoice in erery opportunity of meeting any person whose mind is curichied by cultivation, xnd whose lieart is warm with kindly feclings. Let me not judse bis shortcomings; leb me not require from’ him e B appowmnted to him to cou- Yet Mr. Sumner was not wanting in th spirit of criticism. For instance, i HEAR WHAT IE SAYS OF N. P. WILLIS, whom Miss Martineau has been so berated for telling the truth about: “ Cosper and Willis bave harmed us not a little; and then some oLbers of our countrymen, who have not been 50 extensively received in society as these two, and who hase written nothing, have yet left im- Jressious mot tle most agrorable. . . . . verybody is_laughing at Willis' sketeh, in a Iute “New York Miror, of Lord Durham: Marryatt says that when Willts *looked over his £poon, one’spoon looked over another.’ Lady Blessinzton says it is ll fulse, as also dots Foublanque.” u will pardon me il OF BULWER - this is his impression: *1 see this flash novel- ist often: we pass cach other in the drawing- room, aud even sivon the same sofa: but we bave neverspoken. . . . . Bulwerwas here a few moments ago in his flash falsetto dress, with bigh-licel hoots, a white Rreatcoat, and a flaming blue cravat. Tow different, from Rogers, who ‘IS sitting near me reading the North _American; or Ylailam, who is lolline in an. easy chair: or Milman,—both absorbed in some of the last reviews or magazines,” Yet later be speaks of meeting Bulwer when he talked iith much good sense. With amus- ine honesty he writes: *I liked Bulwer better than ¥ wished. Ue talked with sense and cor- rectess, though without brillianey or force.”” And again of Willis he writes, in councction with Lady Blessington: “She has spoken with me oo aformer occasion about Willis, whom she still likes. She woula have been happy to continue to invite bim to her bouse, but she could find no persons who would meet him. She thought some of his little poems exquisite. Indecd, she spoke of him in a way that would please him. ‘ did not venture to introduce his. name, for fear of stepping onforbidden ground; but she volunteered to speak of m.” He meets Rogers, and at. first does not like him because he cannot understand bis sarcastic temper. Asa converser Rogers is unigue, The world, or report, has not_given him credit enough for his great and peculiar powers in this line. He is terse, emzrammatic, dry, infinitely to the point, full of wirdom, of sarcasm, and cold humor, He Says the mostill-natured things, and doce the best. Ite cameup tome at Miss Martineau's, where there was a little party of very clever people. and said: ++31r. Sumner, itie 3 great piece of beevoleace in you to come here.” Determined not to be drawn into n slurupon my host. 1replied: **Yes, Mr. Rozers, of benevolence to myaell. Aswe were coming away, Rogers, Hamness, Babbage, and my- eelf were waiking tozether down the nartow street fn which Mies M. lives. whenthe poet eaid- ** Who out the Martinesu could have drawn us inte such a holet” "And yet I doubt not he has a sincere liking for Miss M. : for I have met her at his house, and he afterwards spoke of her with the greatest kind- ness. And tbrough and through these letters are permeated with a spirit 50 true, so CORDIAL AND BRAVE, that one must be narrowindeed to rise from their perusal without feefing the truth and goodness of the writer. +And apart from these qualities we set here such pictures of Enalish gociety and of our own as no other letters have before given us. But leaving him at the very outset ot his eareer, in 1545, bis literary exeentor say nothing concerning further volumes, which are to bring us through the greatest events of Mr. Sumner’s life aud our country’s history. But, no doubt, this is an oversizht, and the fur- ther record will be given in due season. Who- ever_reads these two interesting volumes will feel impatient for the others. N.P. PHONETIC SPELLING. Paper Read by Mr. George D. Broomell Beforo the Principals® Assaciation, Mr. George D. Broomell, of the Central High School, read the following paper before the Principals’ Association of this city at their last meeting in response to a vote unanimously passed at their meeting in October, inviting kim todoso. After the reading, on motion of A. N. Merriman, it was resolved that the thanks of the Association be tendered to Mr. Broomell for his able and convincing lecture, and that he be requested to furnish a copy for publication in the daily and weekly papers: LADIEs AND GESTLEMEN: I thaok you for {he Lionor ot au invitation to address this small but select und intellizent assembly. ¥ wish 1 were able to do justice to my subject and my audicnce. 1 can only hope the hour will not be wholly without profit. FOUR SETHODS OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE are conceivable: first, the Ideosrapiic; second, the Word method; third, the Syllabic; and, fourth, the Phonetic. Omitting all reference to the history of these scveral methods, und the respective merits und disadvautages of the first three, I pass dircetly tothe fourth,—that is, the presentation of language to the cye by repre- senting the sounds heard in speech. This. is uvguestionubiy thetruemethod for general use, and nothiug that could properly be termed a literature could exist without it. I need not say that, speaking iu general terms, our method is phonetic; but it is my purpose to show that the phonetic principle is very fmperfectly and unekillfully applied. The principle is very sim- ple, and, correetly carried out, would require. first, 4 careful amalysis of the sounds heard in spéeeh; secoud, a character or let- ter for cach sound; and third, that cach sonud chould be represented by its own proper letter under ail circumstances. With such a system, to write or print a word it would oniy be necessary to place the letters in the order heard in speech, and the thing is done, and abwavs correctly, provided the writer pro- nounces correctly. There would be no room for mistake. liad we a truly { honcsic eyetem the labor of learning to spell would eatirely dis- appear. Any one acquahited with the alphabet could spell any word that he could pronounce. How do the facts now contrast with this pleas- ing conception? Our children spell their way Jaboriously, carefully, tearfully many .times, through the cight grades of tbe primary and srammar school?, completing something every here and there, but oever the spellme. “Enter- ing the high schools, they find it therc fu every vear of the course. Twelve years for the course in spelling. Spelling_everywhere and every when; spalling oral and written, spelling sin- gly and in classes; spelling solo and in concert; spelling from card and from Spelier: spelimg’ from readers First, Sec- ond. Third, Fourth, and Fifth; spclling from test-books in arithmetic, grammar, geog- phy. and history: and, in addition to all this, ong lists of selected words are placed upou the biackboxards for no other purposethan that their spelling may be memorized. Then, after leay- ing school. there must needs be an occastonal revival of the old-fashioned spelling schooi. In winch the participants spell at a mark or prize, to stimulate to further study in the ortho- ic art. g“;?;u: Wit & THE RESULT OF ALL THIS Not perfection surely. What proportion of the wwell educated ¢ven ¢an write for au hour with- out a lexicon av hand, and make sure when through that every word will stand the test of a eritic’s eve? \Who does not know that I might pronounce even to this audience, composed of those whose lives are given to learningz and to {eachivg, a list of 100 words, veither. up- ueual nor difficult of utterance, wherein the probability of a single one spelling the entire list. according to the standards, would be exceedingly small? Recall how it was in those epelling-matenes. 1t was_onlva_ouestion of thne as to the best speller suflering defeat. The contest was simply as to who should hold out Tongest. “Now, what docs this mean! What but that nobody can spell ali words correctly,— that is, according to recognized standards? The followmyg estimate made by another (Mr. Medill) some years ago probably fawly repre- sents the facts as_to orthrographic proficiency. Qui of every 1,000 adults promiscuously se- lecte Number who can neither read nor epeil Can spell easy words and read s little.... ... Can reac tolerably well, but misspell common words.... 011 touch and none in much? K-n-0-w Why we spell ksow; on his t-o-n- h-¢. polict; a-i-&-1-e should make one smui haugh; calied Infolonels 1 w1 will dough; for we have had e-n-o-u-g-h of such stongh. out rudder or coimpas: ple word rainbows. with no guide but us see whal guestions may_ arise, sound we find represented by r (far), re (are) rv epell mo . 300 el hard words quite frequently T %00 Pass for prettygood spellers.... ... . 70 Can properly be called good spelier 25 Can sperl alnost any word. ersesraniren 5 Can rpeil every word. s Total.. . This estimate is for the Northern States, after a century of free schools. Every one Lnows that in the South the case is far worse. Tne difficulty of acquiring an approximate mastery of spelling was well illustrated in a brief couversation I had some time ago with a gentleman of much learning, who ia at the same. time oueof the best spellersof my acquaintance, and one of the strongest opponents of my views on this subject. He was speaking in a somewhat satirical way of the inability of many well-informed persons to spell well.~ 1 said 1o him: % You have an exceptionally retentive memory, and I do not think you fairly appreciate the difficulty the average mind cxpericnces in this matter.” * Mcmory!" ne replied. “It is not memory, it is. work. " will ‘venture to sav that I have spent ten times as much time -on spelling as you have. Comment is unnccessary, cxcept o assure you on my houor, as a man and a teacher, that L have spent conslderable, if not more. P Let us now inquire definitely ' WHY TIIS DIFFICOLTY and this waut of success. We have séen thata truly phionetic system requires as mauy chares ters” or letters there are sounds heard in speech. In the English language forty-one or forty-two sounds‘are uscd, but in our alphabet are only twenty-six lctters, and theee of these arc redundant (¢ hard is k, c soft is s, and x is ks). Twerity-three letters, then, are all we have for over forty sounds. At least cihicen sounds are without signs; and to gel themselves be- fore the eye they must. borrow Lhose of others, Great Toss and confusion necessarily result. Still, a tolerable approsimation to a correct rep- resentation of the language plight be made with this alphabet by assigning two sounds to the same lefter as far as uecessary, leaving the reuder to determe by its conncetion in use which was inteuded hy the writer: or, better still, perbaps, by assigning certain digraphs to the uureprescuted sounds. In this way our’ written language might be made nearly enouzh phouctic 1o answer very well all practical pumoscs. 1f each letter, and each combination taking the place of a letter, ul- ways stuoil for the satnc sound u few simple rules would render our epelling cusy and natural. But, instcad of this being the case. oot only is everv sound that hax no Ickicr of its own repre- sented in geveral different ways, but every sound that has its letter I8 perpetually gutting itself rcp- rescated by othier letters. and by all manner of combinations. For instauce, we ud the sound of o represented in cach of Lhe following ways. (The worda in parenthesis illustrate the spelling): By o (old), aa (boat). oe (fac), ow {flow), oh (oh). owe {owe), of (folke), ou (sonl), oo (duvr). of (depot), 0g (colomne). cw (scw), ough (though), oxt (provost), ho (Shost), eo (yeoman), ean (beau). an (Esqniman); wo (sword), aut'(ham- boy). 20h (Pooraoh). The sound of lon e we find spelled by e (me), ce (see), ea (eat), ei (conceit), eo (people). ey (key), es (demesne). i (machine), it (zrieve).ae (Csar). oc (bhownix), ui (mosquito), ei;f_(mceipt), usy (quay). ‘hese illustrations are tot selected becanse they are the worst. Al the vowels are *surpassing rich™ in the number of dresses in_ which they sre ermitied ® appear in public. 1 might give you at cast seventeen different spellings of long a; nine of short.u; ten of what is calicd Italian a: fhirleen of broad u; ten of loug i; twenty-one of short1; seventeen of short ¢; and s0 on_throuzh the entire Tist of vowel sounds. Inno case do [ know or even suppose that my obscrvation has covered the entire Tiat; and | bave not in any caxe included in my cnumeration those speliings in which a tinale is supposed to aid 1n the spefling of a sound in the miadle of the word or last syllable, as in. such words as home, fate, pme, leave, believe, etc. This would add a large percentage'to the numbers given. 4 With the consonant sounds the case s not quite 50 bad, but its budness ouzht to satisfy the most ardent Tover of anurchy, as a single illustration will show. We find the sound of n represented by n (), ne (done), nn (inn), nne (cayenne), in (ba- sin), en (nven), ov (deacon), ten (hasien). pn (pucumatics), mn (mnemonics), mp (comptrolier), ku (knock), and £u (gnat). TROSE WHO IAVE EXAMINED THIS MATTER CAREFULLY say that the mumber of diflerent combinations, with the siugle lctiers, used in the spellins of sin- gle sounds, Sxcecds 300. My own observution has covered about ‘Think of it! Analphabet of 300 characterst But ths doesnot half tell the atory: for almost every letter and combination represents more thanone sound, and many of them 2 half-dozen or more. Witness the bebavior of ca inthe words yea, year, heat. head, heart, carth, guinea: of o in mote, move, noL, nor, son: of i in mild, pin, police, bird: of a in fable, fat, far, fall, fare, alar. In fact, our spellingis perfectly lawless. The moment We {rv to reduce it to rule we find the ex- ceptions 60 numerous that the rule s worthless. and we abandon the attempt in disgust and despair. 1t is amenable to neither rule nor rgason. Let u3 ask a few questions: Why but one’_in copy and two insloppy? One in proper and two iu copper? One't in pity and two in ditty? One 1 in control and two in enroll? One z inlizard and two in izzard? Onc in clef and two in clitf? Why ong 1 in propel and two in foretell, and two with an ¢ in azelle? Why an o in prison and pone in prisn Why a bat the end of one's thumb and none in drum? Why eainepeak snd ce m specch? Why ie there a 10 witch and none in which? Why an a? Why ou in scourge, ninorge, {indirge, and e in merge? Wny z in breeze and & in checae, and why the letter ¢ three timea to one sound of e in cither word? Of what use the y in play, the o in people, the ea in beanty, the oin you, the'w in tlow, the ¢in foe, the i in fricnd, the 1 in guide, the' o in_double, the ch in &! schism, the e in true. the ue in plaue, the b in doubt? But there iy no end to the questions we might nsk. These nre but sxmples, and easy ones at that. I o-n-¢ spells one, why not o-n-e- d-e-r wonder? 1f t-w-o&pells two, why will not d-w-0da? Let us transplant a few more soellings. E-i-g-h-t might bother a child's freizht; &-i-u-n i3 very ign; some [-0-1-k-8 we can colks; 1 do not o the sound ronguc: how does o-p-a-q- que? -g-h-t is hard toreceight; i-n-d-i-c-t is quict c-a-1-1 Tnichi make one 1alf; and l-a-u-g-h is too funny by the gpelling of c-0-l-o-n-e-1 might be give t-h-r-0-u-g-h and that It would seem 3s if every thoughtfnl observer mnst admit that our spelling is an ABSURD, TUNNATURAL, ILLOGICAL, UNREASON- ADLE, AND CONTRADICTORY CONTRIVANCE. In orthographiy we are on a_houndless sea with- Current and counter-cur- rents, cddics and whirlpools beset us on cvery band. Ouc diflicplty mastered helps little or nune sbont the next. ance. spel < spelling. and cverand anon manipuiatine the lexi- Memory is abont our sole reli- Tience our children are forever lenraing (o and adults are always questioning their cou to Tecover lost orttozraphy. No one can fell when be hears 8 _word for the first time how he must spell it to_pass_muster, for every word may be written in many_different’ ways. For llinetra- tion, suppose we have occasion {o \write the sim- alogy; let The 1nitial (morigage). rr (burr), tps (corps), Wr (write). rh (rhyme). and rrh (myrrh). The eecond sonnd we find spelicd by s (fame), ‘at ait). ay (day), aye (aye,) a0 (gaol), ag (cnamopagne), e (fete), ce (melee), ea (great). ei (veil), ey (they), ua (guage), er (crochet), mct (bouquer), eig (reign), eigh (weigh), and aigh (straight). The thira " eound,”” that of n. we have found epelled in thiricen differcnt waye. ~For the first sound of the second syllable we _necd perhaps decide only between b and bb; and then make choice of Gue of the twenty-one spellings of o pre- viously given: which will bring us 1o the final sound, and sct us o choosing among z (zone), zz (buzz). e (size), & (a8), &3 (hussy), e3 (thieves), se (disease), ce (suflice), 5p (raspberry), and (beanx.) After due deliberation we might pe: haps settle on_something like this: wrlicighknb- boughzzex, —the x being appended partly to indi- cate that after all our pains. the correct spelling is unknown. * When teaching school many yearss ago st Su- gartown, asweel little village in Pennsylvania, 1 Used to spell the name of the town thus: Shoulgueyuhphthoushkn. This spelling s Justified analogically by the following words: {sboul)d, ro(gue), m(yrrh), (phib)isic, phiough), (knlow. How many times have ou been oblized to refer 10 the dictionary toasceriain whather to spell it able or ible? and perhaps then you found it ebie, a8 in dclebie, while it is ible 1 mdelible. It would ke 3 brighi bo a lonz time to master the orthogrupliy of this little suix alone. He would be furnished no less atask in words_endmg with the syllable heard i wiuter, dollar, honar, murmur, fakir, and theatre; and afier he had memorized all words of this termination as to whether they should end in er, ar. or, ur, ir, o fe, if he had auy time left he ‘might settle up with Land Il, s and ss, and all the rest of the doubles. Next' he might take words ending in the n sound, 3s prison, cousin, deepen, i the last syllable of which there is no vowel eonnd, and remember if he can whether the uscless setter in each particular word is o, 1. ore. In this hst I have not included such words a3 sylvan, mountain, sureeon. imagine, hecause \when di unctly pronounced there is ' slight difference be- tiween the Jast syllable of these and the others, though us ordinarily uttered the difference is not apparent. t our bright boy be not surrounded by the carcs and duties of mantood ere he get through with the work susgested, he might next taeup the very common termination shn, and question sl words of that ending 330 whether they must_concinde withtion ymofion), cean (ocesn), tian (Egyptian), shion (faclion). shen (Goshen), sion (omission), cian (phiysician), cion (caercion), chion (falchion), or ehun.” which would be hetter than any of the other spellmgs. Whoen our pupil had completed 211 these tasks he would have made only 2 begin- ning. No wonder one of our city preachers wrote s0 sorrowfully in response to an invitation to take partin 2 spelline-match when the fever was on two yearsago. Hear him: MasCH 25, 1375, —0. C. GIode—DEAR Sik: 1 shall be out of the city Friday esening, and fience #halt notbe sble 10 a1rend the spelliag trial of that evening. Covld T be present Wy remarks wowld be of 4 melaucholy ua- ture. When 1 iook UL Gpon tae Gutrageous conduct of the vowels and consouants that make. up our £n- Flla the scene 16 sad and areary and 1 - would ot ve alway.” The Fuglish Ixngusge should be abol- 18ned. No doubt tntemperance will pasa airay. the sourcea of the Nle will be approaclied by raflway and will b decorated with & depot and a restaurnt. o Bishop will be agreed uron {or our diocese. the North Branch will abound in brook Lrout; but the man who shall luok out ©upon that happy sge will sit down nt his table and mourn a# he tries 1o pell out o shmple letter ta hts grandmother, sad the Lunatic Asylum will be fall of ¥bose who wentcrazy over an effort 10 s1and p sst i spelling-school. With irrepressible grief, yours. Da¥i SWiva. Tt 15 to be hoped intemnerance 18 on the wane; Stanley is working st the Nile problem: it iscertain our diocese has its Bishop; I canuot 2ay #s to tae prospect of trout in the North Branch; but I puc- ose to do what in me lics to kecp those poor fel- Fows out of the lunatic asylum by doing away with the need of spelling-gchools. Tn looking over ** the outrageons conduct of our vowcls and consonants, ™ we cannot but wond er HOW SO ABSURD A SYSTEM EVER CAME INTO 5 % BEING. The explanation, brielly staled, seems to be about this: The English language is a growth from eev- cral different janguages, and, having no alphabet of its own, it adopted the Roman. The Latin llnfinn’;e was probably ncarly phonetic in ite apelling; but to adhere to' the phonetic rinciple in_the representation of the mnew [iofuoee, Which grew out of &0 many and such various clements, by an alphabet intended for only one of them, Wag impossible. Among the dialects thut fused into English there were many sounds that the Latin tongue never possessed. 1n writing this new language in this ansuitable alpha- bet, one ssribe would endeavor 1o express a sonnd by one combination of ‘letters, aud another the gime sonud by a different combination. llence carly Enalish manuscripts exhibit great ortho- graphic confusion: and, on the introduction of printing, the orthography was still wholly unsettled and very uncouth. Lut the cabrices of printer and Proof-reader gradually grew into a sort of standard of orthograpliys and what had its origin in icnor- ance and darknese became 13w (o un age of knowl- cdge. The hatural outcome of “all this was that, when the written language decame in some measure gettied, the vagaries of one scribe were fouml crystaliized .iu_one_word, thoss of another in another word containing the same sound, thuse of a third in another, and 80 on. ‘Then in onr attemnts at explanation we must remember that pronunciation_undergoes consider- able change as time passes. _ Many words formerly rhymed that now do noL, and vice verea; amd many Jetters formerly sounded sre now **gilent.™ We bave dropped out unnecessary sounds for greater brevity anil_convenicnce, buistill retin the now uscless letters, TRONUNCIATION. . Ihave thus far considered only the ifficnltics and disadvantagos of our system in the watler of spelling. But they are scarcely less in leantling to read_und pronounce. Disconrazements and per- plexities meet the Jearner at cvery step. o one can tell with certainty whea he seds a word for the first time what it is 1o be called, Every letter com- posing it stands for different sounds in other word; und hie canuot tell which of its sounds to give it in the new word. ~ A thousund.illustrations mizht be given to show that what is learned in one word ieips little iu another: but time Wil permit oaly 8 ew. Suppose an cducated foreiguer 1o be just com- mencing to read English. _He meets with the very simule word on, which e learns to pronounce, and feels that he hus made 3 beginning. Next he meets with one. 2nd thinks it must be on-e. He certainly never would imagive that it mast be pronounced won. Buthaving learned this he next meets with 1one, and now thinks this wuxt be _twon, but finds on investigation it iy tone. His nextword is done, and be wonders whether it s don, or dwon, or done (loug o), but finds all thesc are wrong and the word is dun. * 1le learns that c-a-t spellseat. lie wonders what the a is for, but. accepting the situa- tion. be pusscs on to great and calls it greet. But he finds_this i8_wrong: there i3 such a word a8 greet, but it is not spelled thus, The word Just. be called great. and great must be his astonishment thereal. Learning how to ronounce own, he wonders at the w, but takes kindly 10 it until he meets with down, and calid it down. Correcting this, he next trips on shown by calling it shoun. Learning the pronunciation of do, he thnks doe must be dooy: and when be gets this correct he calls does dose. But-we cannot fol Tow him In detail through such words as now, snows; ant, want; over, lover; lose, close; river, driver; other, Lother; Fove,” prove: car. bear linger, slinger; have. bebave; fumber. plumber: allpw, swallow: ague, plague; and enonzh other contradictions and absurdities to plugue him into a1 atiack of the avue. We must. however, puse long enoush to henr him read thie following sentence. supposing him o uve just met with the combination ough for the firet time. We may well suppoee hie would be ohliged to sk what Lo call the namé, Hough; after which he would read (pronouncing oush’ alike throughont) **01d farmer Uough took Lis team from ihe trough and went over the slough to try 10 plongh: but he had a bad couxh, and the ound was rough and_the roots very ioughy and fefure he was thirough he was tired eno And 80 also would our learner be by the time he had mastered &ll the fantastic tricks of that meaning- Jess combination.. We may imagine him occasion- ally stinuluting’ a weakening courage by pro- noancing firmly the couplet: Though the rough cough snd hiccongh plough me through O'er life’s dark slouh my course I will pursue. A question so much asked in the spelting-fever days 1¢ wonderfully suggestive of absardity In the Jeflers we use in the representation of words. “‘liow do you pronounce bac-ku-cne " Gener- ally the qaestioned party did not remember to bave et with the word. and was usually much amuged 1o find after considerable study. that that combination of letters gave him packache. Tlow many times do even teachers of long ex- perience have to refer toa dictionary, with no other purpose thau o ascertain how 10 prono 2 word—a very common word it may be too? spelling does not tell us: our memory canuot be re- Tied ou 3t the moment, nd we can only lovk it apor risk criticizm. When we had a teacher of elocution in the High School, it was common to see long columns of words on the blackboard that had bees placed there simply that Hieir, correct pronuu- ciation might be lesrmed. The more cure- fur pupils had lists on poper to be hunted down and memorized o3 they had leisure, They were to find out whether the final sound of vathis und truths is that of & or z: wheiher ¢ is sileat or sounded in Christmas and often: whether i it long or éhort in vineyard and engine: whether root rhymes with foot or boot: waether ch is hard or soft in archanel and archbishop; whether u has aos sound in quote and quotient of nut: whether the lust syllable of mereuntile is tile, til, or teel; whether ¢ and i are lon orshortin beroine;; wheth® er o in sovereizn and hiovel has yue of tne’ sounds of oorof u: whetherin the word pronunciation itselr the middic syilable is see or shie. Theze are samples of numberless questions that ‘are forever presenting themselyes o the student, and will for- ever continue o ‘do #0 unless our system isre- formed, and conformea approximately st leact to the phonetic principle. 1f this were done, 99 per cent of all the labor they involve would be saved. In turning to the dictionary, how often do we find the speifing given by one combination of lei- ters and the pronunciation by a differcut one. In- deed. but for the dincritical marks used this would Yo necessary in slmost aill cases. Butina very laree number of words the irregularity is so greut thiat uo sy¥ten of marking will énable us to make the sane- letters answer for hoth the epelling and the naming. **Spell the word thus, " says the lex- icou, **hut on penalty of losing your standuwig in polite socicty dou't call it ¥o."" Suppose a boy should apply for admission to one of your schools, and_when you asked bim the usual question, “*\hat {8 your name?” he shouldanswer, **When written it i Johmnie Williame, but when spoken it is Billy Jones, " what would you think of his sani- ty? Yelis not this just as reasonable as for word to require oue combination of leiters to tell how to write it, and a dilferent one to tell how to speak: it Taking up a pronouncing spelier recently, I had the curiosity to note carefuily the first bundred words I should meet with in opening the baok at random, to ascertain how many of them used the same letters for the spelling a3 for the pronuncis- tion, and 1 found just five. Thinking this might Be exceptional, 1 observed another hundred, and found in 1t but a single onc. Ilere arc a few speci- mens: Rightcons, ryehus; leisure, lezhur; kneil nel: carriage, carrij; queue, kuj chirisien, krisn nanshty, naute: neighbor, nabur; wrecked, rekt Tuesday, Tuzedy: pheasans, fezants clique, kleek jmice, Please mark that when jews i8 used 10 spetling the propunciation must be juz. Surely thiy Is exquisitely absird. EFFORTS AT REFORM. 1 will nexs allude to some of the efforts that have been made to reform our spellinz. 1 lhave seen that Dr. Jolinson groaned over the absurditics and incongruities of Enghsi_orthography. 1t scems, however, that be made little orno eifort to reform it. e might, without doubt. bave done much in thie dircction had he the conraze and foresixht to do s0 when e wrote his_dictionary. Americ’s Arst_great philosopher, Dr. Frankiin, fook sreat interest in the subject of reform, and invented a new alphavet i which be wroté muny quires of paper. A specimen of it mas be_seen in Uarton’s life, volume 1, page 527. Ale ridiculed our spell- ing without stint, und declared only those speiled well who spetled 1il; that yf wasa iuch better way 10 spell wife tnan the cusiomary one: and that the ignorant girl who wrote of her bo spelled far better han tie cducated Young lady WBo wrole of her eau. Noah Webster recognized the desirability of re- sorm, and%ucceeded in effecting & permanent change 1n the spelling of bunareds of words. Pity Be had not extended the list to many thonsands. Measured by results, by far the most mportant movement yel made 11 ihat mauzurated about forty years azto by Isanc Pitman, of Bath, Bog. Pitman, however, attempted more than a reform in spell* g, He claimed that our_letters are too cumber- eome in form, and that simplec characters shoula be substituced for them, at least for writing pur- puses. With this in view ke originated that system of writing known as Phonography. Time will not permit me to describe this Systein 1 detail. 1 r gard 1tasone of the most mgenions inventions wver given to theworld. It 1sremarkable for its philosophical character, its clear phome analysis of the language, and the symblicity of 1ts structure, By means of light and heavy strokes, straight and curved.and a variety of positions, 1t represents each of the sounds of our language by s single move- ment of the pen. Then, sinple as this is, a few imgentous devices abbreviate the ordinary repre- sentation of words more than one-half; aud a still further abbrevintion furnishes us the system of short-hand reporting ow nsed thronghout this country and Engiand. Probably verbatim report- 1ng would not be possible on any other principle and when it 1s cousidered that without it the new: paper of to-dsy could not possibly be what it that the administration of justicein our courts is greatly faciintatea oy 1t, and that it is used in business wherever correspondence is conducted &t &econd hand, the vast unportance. of Pitman’s in~ vention may be perceivea. 1 this counection | may say4hat I regurd with favor (he project of introuncing the study of phonography into the iivn-School. My rea- Gons are: Iirel; 3T a mere matter of mental disciphine the timie that it would require would be more profitably spent than ‘an equal amonnt given to the curricalum as itnow stands, on the average. Sccond, its study requires carcful at- teation 1o the sounds of words used, and hence tends to increased accurscy of speech. Third, many of those learning itwould acquire sufficient protictency to make 1t practically vajnable, and o Few would push 1t to important results in the way of business, And, lastly, thougbl think I would lace it first in jmportance, most of thase studying JVoald be 1t thereby 1o percelve the desirasility of & thoronghi reform 1n our spelling, and thua the study would promote that change in the sentiment of e5clety at large waich must alwazs precede any important chaee In ita ways and castoms. Tn ad- dition to phionography, Pitman invented an alpha- bet (or printing purposes, which he called phoaot- ophy, and a 1arsc number of volumes. Amons thets a dictionary, have been printed in that form: Dr. Andicy Comtock of Philadelpbia. Suthor of Comstock's Elacution and ather teyi-hooke tar vented a similar alphabet. over (hULs yeuts b, and published 10 sume extent in accordance there- with. Roth e aud Fitwman used oo prcaont alpha- bet ga far 03 1t would Ko (omitting. the Theat” o dundant letters), and invented new letters for the remaining sounds. In both cases the new letters, Detnis nearly onc-half the entire. number, gave 15 the printed paze a forcizn aud anfsmilise sppear ind rendored 1t unatiractive (o the. cdpguted Ametican or Englishman. - llence, white 05 per Cent of those WO Fave the matter aitention retog. mized the correctness of the prncipie. on whisn they builL. few were found able and willing 1 make themselves at home 1n the sructore, THE MEDILLIAN SYSTEM. Trobably the most feasibie. and therefore Jn my judzment he best propositian wver made.for rc! forming our spelling, was that made in 180: Joseph Medill, of this city. Tis Dias wns e e cmize our nresent alphabet asa fxed fact. and 1o make 0 change that would materially modity the anpcarance of the printed page. 1o argaed that no change could be made without the consent of u° majarity of educuted aduits, and that 1t is nseless 10 try o induce them to accept 6o radical a change as wounla be involved in the introduction of & new alphabet, but that they propably could be per- suuded 0 e our present alphabet ina sensible and_philosoplical manner, especially as 1t conld readily be shown thut they would be consulting their own convenjence in doing 0. His system applicd cach of our letters to the repreaentation of 1t own propersound, and provided for the remuin- ing sounds by assigning to cach the digraph now wost commonly emplayed for the purpose, or by a slighly modiied form of the let- ter which it was found most frequently to have borrowed. Out of defercuce to present cus- tom the redundant letters were retainea in connee- tions in whica their use is unambignoux and early upiform. flis system wus not purely phonetic, as indeed no system can be with a deficient alphabet; but he showed that 3 few simple rules swoutd de sutlicient to dispel all nncertainty in_the matter of spelling and pronunciation. Seversl specimens of the proposed system were given at the time in Tie Crteaco Tusiyr. They presented a familiar up- pearance, and could be read without hesitation, even by the uninitiated. 11 the Medillian, or some similar aystem. couid be atonce adopted, the advantages would be incal- culabie. In the simple matter of discarding sifent letters the saving of paper, ink, and type alone would be a matter of no smali Importance. To those already educated the time now lost in looking. up the pronunciation of words and in recovering fargotten orthozraphy would be saved, in addition 1o that gained by greater brevity. Hereafter every child would Gnd the task of Jeurning Lo read a brief and pleasant oue. Fully nineteen-twentieths of the labor of learning to epell would disuppear. Al the advantages combined would esve the workin time of yearsin the hfe of every well-cdacated peréon iwho shouldf resch anywhere near to man's allotment of three scare years and ten. The foreigner, 50 coustantly cominz amongat us, could learn to read our language in a lew weeke: he would therefore acldom” fail to do so. and thus wonid_sdapt bimself to_his new surroundinas to much better advantage than now. Amonz both foreign and native, illiteracy would be far less common than now: and,as illiteracy and crime go hand in hand. we might ressonably cxpect 8 diming- tion in the number 6f crimivals. In’ consequence of this, less would be needed for the support of punitive and reformatory institutions, ' and henee that other consummation most earnestly de- sired—reduced taxation. Grear aid would be ren- dered by the new system _in clevating and enlizht- ening thal massof ignorance aud incompetenc) admitted to a ghare in our politics by the Fifteenth Amendment. The Englieh language. now spoken Dby more people than ury other outside of As would_apread amon other nations and becom common Where it is now little kuown. Another advantugze of a phonetic system 1 wish to empha- size. Its naturalness would lead a child, almost from the frst. to perceivea certain sequence of things: and this would tend to develop his lozical facalty, from the very beginning of his course, Qur “present system not only does not develop the | reasomng powers, but is positively and decisively détrimental theroto. It ie, a4 we have gcen, fall of contradictions and ab- sarditics. 1 doubt mnotthat many a one who has come to nothing might have developed iuto ripe scholarship, and added to the world's knowledge, but for the wholly unnecessary diflicuity- that met bim at the very threshold of Jéarning. OBIECTIONS CONSIDEIED.. 1 will next consider some of the objections that are urged to any change in our orthozraphy. Usually the first_objection offered is that the vast quantities of books and other publications alrcady printed in our present form would be nselegs. To this it may be answered that if we coald suppose & new system fully established so wholly unlike our present one as to have an entirely new alpha- Det, 1t i« plain that for an eaucated person to jearn to read the old ystem would require but g small fractional part of ihe labor that would be required to master a foreizn language; for he would not have to etady meanings, zeam: matical relations, nor, to any considerable extent, spelling. But, instcad of an eatirely new alpha- bet, the fact has just now been presented that thorough reform can be eflected with so little change 1n the general appearance that the new eys- tom can be read at sight by any ane famillar with the old. It is true the old, on account of its bar- ‘barons orthography, would not be so readily rend by one acquainted only with the new: but it is known to )l of you that many distingnished edu- cators peliave that the easiest way to leern our present_system is o learn an_analogons phonetic system first, and afterwards fill in the snperfluous and contradictory. If this be so, what is in our present books would be more essily acquired through a reformed system of spelling than ~it mow is. If, however, all new books and all mew cditions of o oncs were printed in 3 reformed orthography. in a very few years the rreat mass of people would aave all” the reading matter they desired iu the new style. and would care nothing for the old, The féw antiquarion and scholarly persuns who desired access 1o the contents of books not reprinted would readily cuonzh learn to read them. and we may well believe they would do so with a constant sens of satisfaction ihst such a helerogencons methiod of spelling had gone out of date before their day, in conscquence of which they were spared the hopeless task of trying to master it. 1t i3 objected that we would lose the advantage of different spellings for words of the same sound put different meanings. The paltriness of this ob- jection is apparent when we consider that no diticulty arises from the use of these words in speech. Indeed, but 1 small portion of the words that sound alike bt have different meanmngs have these diferences distinguished by their svell- inz. Spellingitself has threc nnallied meanings, but ouly ome spelling. The context determincs the particular meaning, The following not sery ele- gant sentence will illustrate: Of all the saws [ Ever saw saw I never suw a saw sow as (hat saw saws. In this sentence we sce scveral saws of same spelling, but no abscurity of sence. ‘But we may even claim an advantage for phonetics in the matter of different spellings and meanings. For while v would lose the benefit, if it be one, of two_spelings for_the same word, we would be rid of the diendvantage of 'two words for the same spelling--probably . as large a class as the other. The following words will safliciently illustrate this: bow. dove, gill, bass, fower, tear, read, wind. slough, chose, Jead, stinzy, Einger. premise, with, minulc. use. abuse, refuse, swinger, bellows. wound. vrescnt. Each 2pelling gives us two words of wholly differ- ent sound and ‘meaning, and which phonetically represented would be -quite distinct frow each other. . 1t 15 objected that we are constantly incorporat- ing new words from other languages; and it is nsked with an air of being unanswerable fiow these are to be spelled. swer, Let them retain therr, to ug, foreign spelting as long ay they are regarded as foreigners. VWhen they become natnralized, spel) them phonetically, of course. Tt should be remembered that a word in plionetic apparch will always mean to the eye what it does to the car when spoken. 3 N “Auother objection s that pronnnciation chauges, and if our spelling were phonetic to-day it would not be to-murrow. \Why nott 1f we once deter- mine that sound and symbol must harmonize, a change in pronunciation wouid involve a change of speliing, as it always should. 1 claim, bowever. 25 one of the benefits of phonetic spelling, that there would be far less ficklencas in pronunciation than now. There would be.something to bold to. o settle the spelling of 3 word would be to deter- mine ita pronunciation, which is not now the case. When Dr. Johnson was aeked whether nejther should be pronounced nayther or myther, he sn- Ewered, ¢+ Neether.” . So far as the spelling is con- cerned, it may be pronounced t any of these wuys with about cqual propriety, and in this regard it'is not different from numberivss other words. Even the dicsionaries show much uncerzainty about the correct pronunciation of a great many words. We get no other ight in regard to the vowel sound in Fllowsanda of syliables than that it 18 ** abscure.™ Now, why this uncertainty? Because we do not now what 1s the usage of the best speakers and writers, and this 13 the only standard. ~ Scarce any- body has opportunity to determine the matter by Jistoning, and the printed paze gives no clew. In- e oniy & very delicate car ean detoet the exact Sonnd 1a many syllables as_attered by a speaker: Dat words writlen or printed phoetically wouid smve us the intent of the writer ata glance. Our objectors say, 1f you attempt to reform onr apeliing yon will bring ¢haos for # whole genera- tion. T answer, First, we have chaos now, and \wiah 10 bring order out’ of 1t: and. second, better chaos for a generation than obstruction forever. The best things we have are eaid to have come out of chaos, 1 supposc a reform would oot mnch bepefit these objectors, but only fhose who come after. Perhaps they belonz 1o the class who think they Owe mothinz io poster- 1t5. because posterity never did anything for them. These same worshipers of King Inertia would prob- aoly have objected just as strongly to railroade had fhematter been presented to them us a distiuct scheme in ndvance. They would bave said. **Qur Toads are good enongh. We bave been over them and found them satiefactory. Your scbeme will bring chaos. \we will have nonc of it. The last objection I will allude to_fs the etymo- Jogical one. It is said we would lose the immense benefit involved in the present spelling of a word 25 to its derivation, and bence its’ meaniag. Word {tsolt, I euppose, i3 a good tlinstration. "Spell it honétically (w-u-r-d), and we would no longer Bnow from what it is derived, nor that it is allied 7o the Latin verbum—facts £0 plainly revealed by its present epellinz. On this subject] quote from an rticle §n Jobnson's Encyclopedia, from the pen of 2n uble man, A. J. Elhs, who has given {he subject much atiention. Affer sayins that in English the sign and sound are so practically inde- ‘pendent (Eat 10 one who sees an_English word for ihe nrst time knows low to speak it, and no one b0 hears an Enghish word for the 8rst time knows how to epell it, he ssys: S 4 for retsining an orthography 20 Injarl- T S A OAI3a85 3t Setling we should sacridce the etymology of ‘words. whichis unknown In mauy cases; which the preseat spelling docs not preserve o others: which no apefling could "{ndieate with certafoty. even to those Aacausinted with the old_spoken (not merely written) forms of the English lauguaxe and [ts Aryan relatives; Which could be taught, as far as it {snow known, much hetter to those who spell phonetically than to those who do not: which Is practically seldom present 10 the mind of any speaker: and which Isa part of antiquariaa aud [ihilosophi educarion, that thuse who nsist on 1t rarely kniow anything about.'and that miilious of those who speak English have ifttle concern with or power to ap- breciate. g **But,™ he goes on 10 say. **a change is not im- possible, for the old Athenians altered their &pell- ng officially in B. C. 403, and within the last 100 years the Netherlands and Spain have altered Lheirs, the former having vawly tricd to fosc etymolozy with phonetics. but the latter having wisely clitg to phonetics only." 3 ¥rom Chambers' Encyclopedia T quates **The best answer to this objection 1s that the traces of etymology preserved in the present spellingare 5o imperfect and inconsistent as to be of little valne compared with the embarrassments they occasion in other reapects.” Aleo this: The Sanscnt language fnruishes the most convincing proof of the” original phonetic character of alphubetic writing, ~ for not omly were the words wnilen exactly as ihey were soanded, butevery chunge which aletter underwent w: consistently indicated by a change in writing. Not- withstanding this fact, there isno languaze in which the etymologica) and srammatical relatious of words are more cleurly exbibited or easily traced than in Sanscrit.” ‘To these quoted answers T will 2dd that it is plain, from what has been previonsiy stated in connection with Mr. Medill’s plan, that our languzges may be made essentially phonetic with far less change thau haw tsken place since the days when Chancer wrote English: but so far #s 1 know these obiect~ ors do nol claim that the lanzuage has sufered 1083 trom the change, either by Decoming obscure in meaning or in any other way. The fact is. the history of few words can be told by their apelling. an it i3 not necessary that any should be, A8 well might we require esch man to give us always an epitome of his history with his si; natnre. . Each word has n present recommized meaning, and. Jike each person. a prescnt purpose to serve; its history may well be left to the inves- tigations of the learned and curious. Nothinz that i now known of words will be lost by spelling them in harmony with the dictates of 2ood com- mon senses for nobody proposes or desires to de- stroy the books now 1in beitz or to demolish the sciences of ctymology and philology. Last- Iy, it should be said that if we were to ad- mit for this objection the full force iatended by those who ake I, it still would Lave uo application whatever except among scholacly people,—those who have some knowl- edze of the languages from which odrs is denived. These are but u very small per cent of the entire population; while ail have, or should have. and ould bave'under a phonctic syatem. occusion to read, write, aud apell. s it just, or right, ar reasonsble iu these few learned objectors, whose very fearping gives them the means of easily and completely overcoming their own objection, to ask the Ereat mass of COMMULILY to benr wo hedvy a. burden for the benefit of their select selves? Do they destre the establishment of n sort of aristoc- racy of learning inta which none shall find entrance without meeting and overcoming ol the obstacles that lay in their own pathway? HOW A KEFORM MAY RE ACCOMPLISHED. 1 cannot close without alluding 10 some of the methods by mcans of which we might hone to ef- fect this reform. First, by agitation of the sub- ject wntil & recogmition of its desirability becomes eneral. A prefequisite to any improvement is a iesatistuction with what now is. Let the defects and disndvantages of our present system be frecly acknowledzed, pointed ont, and commented upon, Fromoteinevery practicable way the interest now feltin thesnbject. and excite an interest where there isnone. Discouruge the sentiment that whoever misspeils a word thereby commits a capital offense azainst polite Aociety: and admit the fact thaia persou may fail to double a letter when the dittion- ury n\{' he should, or the converse, and yet know something. Aboveall, let all children be tauzht that, while it is still thonght best that they should learn the spelling now in ,vozue, it s, inevertheless. rmdically defective, and might and shoald be thoronehly reformed. 1n a few years these children beco: the teachers and Professors, the Boards of Edacation. the voters, the speakers andwriters, the law-makers, —in short, the community. An appreciation of the defects of our system being general, any assemby of in- telligent people would retlect that seatiment. The Congress of the United States is such an as- sembly. ~ Feeling the need of reform. and nnder- standinz the general sense of the community on the subject, they would probably appoint o com- mission to report such a modification of our spell- ing as would render it phonetic. In our Govern- ment there is no power to enforce the chanwe; but Congress, havingazreed upon a ystem, would order all Congressional proceedings, national lasws, and official orders, repor: ctc., published in harmony therewith: and this would furnish a standard to which all written and printed matter would goon conform.. Second, I think it was Horace Greeley who said inTegard to our great Gnancial probiem, *¢ The wiy 10 resame s to resume.” So we might say of this matter: The way to render our speliing ‘phonetic, is to spell phoneticaliy. We have socit tics for the accomplishment of almost every con- ceivable purposc, from the ‘saving of a penny to the salvation of the world: let us have one whose members shall pledge each vther to spell sensibly, rensonably,—n short, —phonetically. No matter if there be not uniformity at first. “This will come eventually, on the xrincibl: of the survival of the fitiest. 1f we conld enroll in the membership of ench 8 society the names of ‘a few of those whose opiuions have weight, and whose ways tl:e workd gelights to note and to imitate, it wwould not be long before the idea of reform would becin to be popular. The letters and other writings of a semi- private character of some of these would xoon find their way into the public prints, sod throuzh them the idea that reform is deswrable and practi- mbl:i: would rapidly take posscssion of the popular mind. Third, by means of the newspapers. Soppose Thalf 2 dozen of the leading ones were to unite upon asystem and in the advocacy ‘of it: nay, suppo Ar. Medill, with his powerful newspaper to b him. would. sinzle-handed, resume the subject i = déetermined way. restate his proposition of dozen years ago. then publish a column of readinz- matter in the new orthography in each issue of his paper fora year; then two columns in each for another year; and so continue, regardiess of ridicnle from brother editors and others, and all sarcastic aliusions to ‘-filosofer Josef" and his **fonetix, "—suppose, I say. this one man were thus to make a practicul application of his own ‘proposition, is it not probabie that a decade would not elapse till something wonld come of it? FINALLY. 1 believe the time ha< come for this reform. Not- withstanding the enforced idleness on every hand justnow, every thoughiful person knows this is a Dbusy uze. Thoukandsask themselves every day which of the many good things they might do they ehail undertake, to the necessary exclusion of the rest. Economy of force is being studied in every epartment of human endeavor, - Every labor-suy- Ins machire, save it never so little, i< hailed asa helper, and its inventor recognized as a ben efac- tor. lere would be an economizer of great value, becanse it would ave to every man. woman. and child not absolutely illiterate (and none but babes would be so then), and éave from youth to old ave Even our children are feeling the pressure of ghiy new time, A balf-century ago they studicd mainly the three 'a— ¢+ readin®, ritin’, and rithmetic, ” aad did pot tind time to spell well; ‘but branch after branch has been added to courses of study, uatil teachers and paplls « feel at times that the great oeed of our day is some pedient whereby an hour’s work may be done in thirty minutes, By this reform one of the great- est rndgerics of the entire course would be laid aside forever; and the time of teacher and pupil might be givento more agrecable and prodtable employment. 1 believe, furthermore, that no more fitting place than Chicago can Le found for the inangura- tion of thie reform. Our people are less wedded to old things and old ways, and more acenstomed 10 new, than the rest of the world. We know wh: lx it 15 to devise ways and means for_overcomn: forts of difficultice.—those in our present spelling always cxcented, —and our people kuow no sich wordas fail when they undertake anything fn enrnest. Beginning in 3 swamp, after our city was well grown we lifted it up and threw dirt nii- der. Finding it troublesome 1o cross our river, we went under. We let down the upper end of our river and reversed its current, maKmg its mouth 1ta head. We have barruwed for miles far under Iakeand city o obtain and farafsh a supply of pure water. We bacned down our city In 4 day and rebuilt itin a year. Naw, are we not egual 10 the task of inauzurating a movement to remove from our pathway this obsfacle to our educational prozress? Fromwhat has befallen us, and what \ve have done. we already have the world's at- tention. Who betier than we fo take the matter in - hand and show the world a better way! And if our sometime 3fayor would Iead s in this movement [ have no doutt he woult thus hand down his name to posterity, and be re- membered through the Medillian evatem as one of he world's benefuctars, when everything else he as done or may do had long since Geen forgotten. Norwould be have to work single-banded, bat might sately reckon on a goodly subport (rom the outset. I will not stop'to enumerate the classes that would be his supporters; but amons them donbtless would be found in the main the mem! of this Association, who, as those who have the i terests of the coming zeneration larzcly in thelr kecping, are certainly bound in good conscience to Keep themeelves in sympathy with the necds of our time. and to be ever ready to lend a willing earand a hielping hand to whatever gives reason- able promise of benesting humanity. A FANTASY. O the lonely shore of the Iake, “Mid the wolves, the wood, and the brake, Some dariing has strayed, ‘mid the wind and the frost. - Some darling has streyed, eome darling is lost. No lieht for a shadow, too dark for a prayer. 0'God! canst thou sec a heart bleed in despair? On the lonely shore of tbe Inke. *Mid the wolves. the wood, and the brake, bnther has strayed, 'mid tke wind and the {rost, A wild, hungry peother, and the darling iz lost. No light for a shadow. 1o child for o prayer, No God for a heart when it bieeds in despair. Cutcaco, Nov. 16, 1877. Quantes. T The only essential point which to us seems certain ie that there is Do tenable foundation for Democratic exultation. and no excuse for Repab- lican doabts and fears. In this Statc especially there are more reazous for faith than for despond- ency. and fn other States—with the sinzle escep- tion of Pennsylvavia, which lor the time we ae conten o lose—ihore is awple evidence of the undiminished vitality of the Republican patty.— New York Times (L2p.). ! THE GAME OF CHESS CHESS DIRECTORY. Cirtcaco Cuess CLun—Nos. 63 and 65 Wash- ington strect. $ Cuicaco Cuess Assocatiox—Hansen & Welch's, | 130 Dearborn strect, Opposite TrncsE Building. Chess plagers meet daily at the Tremont House (Exchange) and the Sherman House (Basement). All communications intended for this department shioutd be addressed to THE TRISUNE, and indorsed “Chess.™ ENTGMA XNO. 103, IY ME. E. BARDE, CHICAGO. White. Tiack. Kiozat G Kt 5 Kingat G5 Queen atQ R sq Tislopal KIS Tiookat K Rts Eishop at Q Bishiopae Q sa Fawnai Q' Rnighi at K R 6 - Pawnat QK3 Pawnat K B2 Fawnut QKL2 White to play and mate in three moves. PROBLEM NO. 103. BY MR C. A. TERRY, CHICAGO. Black. ¥ White. ¢ “White to play and mate in three moves. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM NO. 101. Black. White. 1..Kt0Q5 Ruwhe . 3..PoK7ch 4..Bt0 B7 mate Mr. Perry points ont that in this variation White may also play 3..B takes R, *4» Correct kolation to Problem No. 101 recarved. from W. I[. Oviogton, C. A. Perry, C. W. Clark, J. H. Campell, E. ltarbe, and \V. il. Edwards, gitrg JUK., Beldes, 0.5 ¢ 31. Conzor, Manches er, 1 SOLUTION TO ENIGMA NO. 10L White. Black. LIwohe 1..P oucens Ritakes DPdisen | 2lAnyihing 3..Qto K B sq mate *,* Correct ¥oiution to Enizma No. 101 received from C. A. Perrv, O, R. Benjamin, E. Barbe, and C. W. Clark, city. TRE CHICAGO CHESS ASSOCIATION. The Chicago Chess Association s now located at Taonsen & Welchs, 150 Dearborn street. Thezy subscribe for, and keepon fle, a Jarze namber of chess papere, both weckly and monthly, and have, alto, a well-aseorted cotlection of the latest works on the openings. Among the weekly papers contalning chess columna are the following, viz. 1 Turf. Field and Farm. New York Clipper, Scintific American. Huddersfield College Magazine, London Tllustrated News, Loundon Sporting and Dramatic News, New York' Dramatic und Sportg News. Danbury Neics, Ciiicao SUNDAY TRIBCNE, Hartford Week- Iy Times, Tondow Field. The list of monthly pabiications embraces the following, viz. : Dubuque Chess Journal, {mcrican Chese Jonrnai, Westuinster Papers, Chess-1luy~ er's Chronicle,’ Deutache Schachzeitung, La Strate- gie. and Nordisk Skakitende:. "The daily papers of the city, both English and German. sre also on ille. Atonrnament will shortly be inaugurated. and arrangementy are in progress for a match by tele- £raph. NOTES. Mr. Bird's new work onchess isnow in the hands of the printers, and it will be ready for publica- tion next week. Every chess club needs just such a work in their roome. The Committce to award the prizes in the Hart- ford Times Luterary Chess Tonrney gonsists of Mr. Charles A. Gilberg, tue problemist, Mev. J. W. Gilbert, the lady chess champion of junerica, and the Rev. A. Blauvelr, of Kineston, N. Y., a well- known chess playcr and anulist, Mr. Bird. Dr. Wild. and Dr. Draston were amonig the muesix of the Brooklyn Club al its third Satarday night chess reception on the 17Uh indt. All'three are now redéuts of Brooklyn. THE CHESS SEASON, Neww York There is o special time for the royel game of chess—when the keason arrives for fireside. enjoy- ments. Chess is the game of Zames for the lon:z nights of winter. Chess may be said 1o date it ‘popularity here frous the advent of iaul Morphy in 1857 From that time it has stcadily incrcased 1a public favor. A sreat dealof playing was done Tast year, and there bas been much playiny this sear fo the way of fournameuts and club contests, and the promise so far is that we sball have a very lively period in chess circles during the scason of 1877-'S. In the metropalis the seasom 15 likely to be more than usuzily interesting. New Vork has become too larze for uny one Ciub to accupy the position of arnling organization. as the old New York Club of twenty years axo did, with its Jist of chess veterans, such ms the late James Thompson, Charles D. Mead. Theodore Lichenstein, Williar W. Montgomery, Frederick Perrin, Danicl W Fishie, Chatles H. Stenlev, ete. ‘Luits place, how ever, adozen or more ~lubs have sprang int ex- istence, sud. what with such noted as the *Cafe Infernutionle, ™ ths politan, ™ the +- ctc.. the o Yotaried of the metrobolis now fid snpie facili-ies for a full enjoyment of their favorite v Outeide of the pri which there are over tienty in the metr 1ty SUDUrDI—TIIC Sea¥On's TOUFNESS 2O lake place at the leadinz cliess esorts of the city, sich a: -+ Cafe Cos cafes. or **Chuse Divans.™ s the 0 London. Ore of these 15 DOW 1 pro: ut tho Cafe Logeling, th ) niax of which is fhenote English piayer, Sr. Bisl. oo ney, which is now neatly compieted, there seieran pla: as Messre. Perrin and Frere, sether wity vich strong players as the Mohble brothers, Entlinger, eic.. the hstincladins iweaty contestants, Ui 1o Saturcay mabt Last the reco:d stoud as followa: Al the other of the twenty contestantahase Inst more games than they have won. In thi< laiter Tistis Mir. C. A. Maracks, brother of the late chesy problenst. - Tu this turney the players are nandicaoned, and at present one of” the third-class contestants leads the record. The season in Brooklyn hay opened under the most_favorable circumstances. The Lrookiyn Ciub at jts recent election placed in office a new ket of club directors, under whose mipavement renewed lite in the orzanization is promised. The programme of the scason includes ot only two_tourn ¢ annual club tourney and a special toiirney for prizea—but aiso a series of - chess inviiation receptions, _which L place fortmghtly on Saiurdays. first took place on Satarday nizht Jast, when the clnb-rooms Were attended ny an unasmal Dumber of fine play- crs, Inviied guests for the occasion. The club tontney. open to members only. bezan on_ Satur- day nizt, The entries incinde ihe following playcrs: Mesers. Barrett, fixby, Chittenden. Chadwick, Coopér, Davie, De Lune, De Groot, Bi- well, Ferznson, Gibson. Hurner, Haddock, liart, Inglls, 1rving. Kelly, Mackay. Merry, Orr. Per rin, Peck, Phillipe.” Pratt, Robmnson, Steiner, Spence, Sweasy, Turner, Taylor, _Thompxun. Thaer, Worth. and Wenderbush. ' The tonrney nighis are Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 7 p. m.1010:30 p. m. The special tozrney will be commenced Dec. 1, and 1t will be open (0 the res- 1dent chess-players of Brooklyn, who can send 1n their names to Mr. Lewis M. Peck, Sccretary, Mercantile Library Bulding. The entry fee is S1. In the Eastern District the leading chees resort 15 the rooms of the Plilidor Club, 213 Graham ave- nue. A tonrney is shortly o he .begun among the members. At the rooms of the ** Union for Chris uon Work, " in_Fultou avenne, there are half a dozen chess-tables in use for the visitors, and tere is 3 chess cotene whica meets in Flulbush avenae, near Falton, cvery afiernoon. These, with 4 numoer of private clabs, make chiess quite lively in the City of Charches. THE DIFFERENCE. : To yon the day Is faic As daye may be: My eyes ate Siled toa bitterly with tears To see. You viewa thousand graves, And sigh at none! My heart is breaking at the simple thought Of onet Lovu MW, et A Tremendous Catfish. Purtueah (Ry.) Netcs. A catfish weighing 111 pounds was on exhibl- tion for a while in the market-house this morn- ing. It was cauht on a trout line by Mr. ‘William Eiclicr, and after the exhibition was oser it was sawed up into huge steaks and sold.