37$ The Future of the English Language. [July, 



" I am not speaking too strongly in saying that our want 

 of systematic orthography has reduced the advantage of 

 alphabetic writing to -a minimum, and makes correct spelling 

 virtually impossible." 



" It is the universal testimony of teachers," remarks Mr. 

 E. Jones, B.A., Head Master of the Hibernian Schools, 

 Liverpool, "that the irregularity of our spelling is a serious 

 obstruction to education. The bulk of the children pass 

 through the government schools without having acquired the 

 ability to read with ease and intelligence, or to spell with 

 accuracy, although these subjects, with arithmetic, occupy 

 most of the time in these schools. It takes from six to 

 seven years to learn the arts of reading and spelling with a 

 fair degree of intelligence, and to many minds the difficulties 

 of orthography are insurmountable. The report of the Bir- 

 mingham Education Aid Society shows that, after a careful 

 examination of a large number of youths of both sexes, be- 

 tween the ages of thirteen and twenty, employed in the 

 factories in that town, only four and a half per cent were 

 able to read a simple sentence from an ordinary school book 

 with intelligence and accuracy. What hopes can be enter- 

 tained of the improvement of the remaining ninety-five and 

 a half per cent ? Education is regarded by statesmen and 

 philanthropists as the lever by which the people are to be 

 elevated, but education, up to the point of reading and writing 

 to any usef id purpose, under present circumstances, is not attained 

 by the great bulk of the population." Mr. J. S. Mill remarks ; 

 " It is truly a frightful consideration that the annual number 

 of pupils who pass the highest grade in the schools aided by 

 Government, namely, who leave the schools able to read a 

 newspaper with understanding, is less than the number of 

 teachers, including pupil teachers, employed in the schools ! 

 There is no doubt that a simplification of English ortho- 

 graphy would facilitate considerably the task of learning to 

 read." 



If we advance to a higher social grade, the same evil 

 influence manifests itself. Out of 1972 failures in the 

 Civil Service examinations, 1866 candidates were in 

 spelling; that is, eighteen out of every nineteen who 

 failed failed in spelling. Dr. Morell, who states this fact, 

 continues, " It is certain that the ear is no guide in the 

 spelling of English, rather the reverse ; and that it is almost 

 necessary to form a personal acquaintance with each indi- 

 vidual word." 



As another example of reading made hard, let us take an 

 American instance : — From the " Twenty-second Annual 



