Il8 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



Steele's contribution to the "Tatler," June, 1710. The subject is 

 a noble one — " On the Love of Country as a Principle of Action." 

 One sentence struck me as being peculiarly applicable to the ques- 

 tion under consideration this evening. The words were " But how- 

 ever general custom may hurry us away in the stream of common 

 error, there is no evil, no crime, so great as that of being cold in 

 matters relating to the common good." It may be claimed that I 

 am usurping too high a place for my subject. I cannot believe so. 

 Knowledge is power, and anything that stands in the way of the ac- 

 quirement and diffusion of knowledge is a national misfortune, 

 nay ' national ' is too narrow a term in this age of the world. When 

 primary education is receiving a larger share of public attention 

 than ever before, this question of our spelling must assume greater' 

 prominence. When it is of the greatest importance to educate the 

 mind, it is positively cruel, and none the less cruel because senti- 

 mental, to force the child to spend its energies upon the mechanics 

 of language, to compel the mind to digest the dictionary to learn 

 the spelling, the drapery, of words. When the mind is being intro- 

 duced into the realm of education it is cruel to present to the little 

 student, in language representation, chaos instead of exactitude and 

 order. No wonder that the little minds are frequently perplexed 

 over the inconsistencies and anomalies of spelling ; no wonder that 

 the child feels so much, difficulty in expressing his thoughts just so 

 soon as a pen is placed in his hand. Is it not easily seen that the 

 mind distracted from the idea sought to be expressed and occupied 

 by the superficialities of words, their ever-changing garb, can have 

 but a moderate degree of success? Why should the mind be ob- 

 structed by such a demoralizing obstacle ? Ought not some means 

 to be provided whereby the hand might keep company with the 

 mind ? 



How is a reform to be brought about ? By a vigorous presenta- 

 tion of facts in the matter to the people at large, and the education 

 of public opmion to that point which will ensure the success of the 

 movement. Philologists are unanimous in their demand for a bet- 

 ter mode of writing and printing words ; that mode, they say, 

 must be phonetic^ or practically so. Each individual must do his 

 share of missionary effort in behalf of the reform, and last but not 

 least, the press, which is responsible in a large measure for our 

 present stereotyped 'spelling, must lend its powerful aid. 



