Il6 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



spoken by others who are supposed to be competent to govern in 

 such matters. The learner is compelled to remember each word 

 separately, and the extension of the list is a matter of no small dif- 

 ficulty. Give each its independent and unvarying sign, and pro- 

 nunciation would be made evident to the eye, and it must be re- 

 membered that the eye is 'a more reliable servant than the breath. 



Such a diversity of pronunciation exists throughout the English- 

 speaking world that one can with difficulty understand the words 

 addressed to the ear by people of various sections of the Empire. 

 English spelling, which does not correspond with received pronun- 

 ciation, is doing much to perpetuate this condition of affairs, and the 

 crying need is for a more perfect method of language representation 

 which shall enable these people to acquire a better and more uni- 

 form enunciation of their common tongue. Make pronunciation 

 evident to the eye and changes would in a large measure be checked. 



An ingenious Frenchman, Addison tells us, placed on record 

 the intelligence that the ladies of the court of France, in his time, 

 thought it a sign ot ill-breeding, and a sort of female pedantry, to 

 pronounce difficult words correctly. Hard words were, therefore, 

 frequently chosen so as to afford the fair ones an opportunity of ex- 

 hibiting their politeness and good breeding. A lady of note having 

 by accident employed a hard word in the right place and pro- 

 nounced it properly, the whole assembly was shocked at her breach 

 of etiquette. There are among us some who would welcome such 

 a convenient fashion as this, seeing that the danger under the pres- 

 ent state of affairs is not that we shall pronounce words correctly, 

 but rather incorrectly, and that many in high places do pronounce 

 certain words outrageously is evidence of the difficulties surrounding 

 the acquirement of a good enunciation under prevailing conditions. 



Economy. — A phonetic system of spelling would reduce the cost 

 and labor of printing and writing by twenty-two per cent. It would 

 enable a child to obtain an elementary education in two years' less 

 time than under the prevailing system. This fact is vouched for by 

 Dr. Gladstone, of the city of London (Eng.) School Board. A book 

 printed in the present spelling and retailing at one dollar would, if 

 phonetic spelling were adopted, sell at eighty cents. The adoption of 

 the '• Five Rules," would not of course confer the full benefit of the 

 complete phonetic system, but would be so great a step in advance 

 that people would be convinced in a most practical manner of the 



