"ten Years Of Spelling Reform."

In tlie first nuraber of the Phono;raphic Uinriiw, a very meritorioui pciodical published by the Phonograpliic natltule, Oincl ui. Oblo, Prof. F. , farotl, of Latayette College, lias au adnir ible article on the history of Spelling leform flnoeftbe first International Convention, held in Philadelphla Anirn-t .'S-17, 1876. Next to the venerable Prof. VVhitney, Prof March s the lirst of the many eminent men of thll country who ue earnestly laboring to brlng about an inpnivetnent in otir grossly absurd orthography. Of ripest scholarship, and a eeognized leader among the educatora of he country, he is a tower of strength mong thosi! who would relieve the Etglish speaking people of the burden of niasterinji the euselss Intricacies of our way of spelling. He is a leader of those who are opposed o the introduction of a new alphahct. nd who favor the gradual loppiug off of he absurdities, so tuat the public will beoine aceustomed to the luiproreineat by efreet. TbeM views prevniled with the imericao l'hilologieal Associ; ton, which ryM opon Eogliah-epeaklng people the bservance of ' Five Hules" for. amendni spelling, as follows : Omlt a from the dlauraf en when pronouncd os e -hort. as In heet, helth, etc. Omlt siient tinul e aller a short vowel. as in av, giv, etc. Wrlte for ph In sucli words as alfabet, fanom, elc. When a word ends wit'i a doublé letter mil the last, as In ehal.cn, eg, etc. ('bange ed tluiil to t wliere 11 bas the sound f t, as In lasht, impresl, etc. For those who wish to go farther in lieir refoimatiou of spelling, theie are hc "Twenty-four Bule," nrhlota were grettd upon in 1883 by the Amuncan und iiighüh l'hilulogiciil Associations. Tliese re : e.- Drop s lent e when fonetlcally useless as n live, vineyard. betieve, brome, single, engiue, ranite, ealen, rained, etc. ea.- Urop a from ea having the s mud of e, s iiif.aiher, tMther.jealous, etc Urop e from ea liavlug the sound of a, as In tant, hearken, etc. eau,- Kor beauty use the old beuty. eo.- Drop o from eo liavlug the sound of , s in jeopardVt leopard For yeoman wrlte yornan. 1.- Drop i of parh'ani' ut. o- Kor o bitvlug the sound of u In bui wrlte lo above (abuv), dozen sorne (sum). tong tuug), aud ttie like. For women restore iiwin. ou.- Urop o from ou bavlog the sound of u as In Journal, nourieh, troubte, rough (ruf ), tough .ui ), and the llke. u.- Urop sllent u after g before a and In niv Bngltth words, as guarantee, guard, guess, uest, guild, guilt, etc. ue. - Urop linal ue In apologue, catalogue . etc., einagogue, pedagogue, etc., trague, colltague. aranque, tongue (tung), etc. V. - Spell rtyme rime. Dobl consniaiits inay be Blmpllfled : Final b. (i, g, n, f, f, l, z. hs In ebb, add, egg,inn$ urr,buU,bailiJf,dull, buz:, et., (nol all, huil). M im I ial Defora uaotlier consonant, as battt e, tppie, ivrittrn. (wrlln), etc. lullinl unacccnleil preQxes and otlier unaceuted syllaliles, as In abbrevt'ate, uccuse, affuir, UJ., curveltxng, traveler, etc, etc. b.- Urop sllent b lu bomb, aumb, debt, doubt, 'umb, lamb, lïmb, natnb, plumb, tublle, nuccuttb, kuinb. c- Chang c back to s In einder, expense, fierce, fience, once, ptnee, scarce aince, sourev, henee, tiercé, whence. ch. - Urop the h of ck In chamomile, chol r, holera, melancholy. school, stotnach. i liange to k lu fgfli tHkf). anchar (anker). ChaDge d and ed flnal to ' when so pronounced as In crossed (crost), lookt (lookt), etc , unless the e afreta me precedlug soumis, as In ckaed, chanecJ. g. - Urop g iuftiya,oreigi, xovereign. gh. - Urop h in iyUat, burgh. ghost. urop gh In IviuylUy, thouyh (luo), ihrough tbru). t'hange gh towhere lt lias that sound, as In cough, lawjtiter, enough, tough, etc 1.- Drop l In could. p.- Uropp In receipt. a. - Urop e in aisle, demesne, ixland. Change u : Injdlstlncllv words, as In atiute verö, house verb, rist verb, etc. Urop c In scent, tcyfie (althe), tch.- Drop laxlii caten, pitch, wUch, etc. w. - Drop ' In whole. pil.- Wrlte tui ph, as in phüoêophy,sphere, etc. Artlcles will appear lu tlie Magazine prlnted n mese varlous aluces oí ameuded spelling, l'hese olianges ar all In llie nulit directiou, and once made will never hav to be unmade, as they He lu the direct way to pure phonetlc spelling. Prof. March sum up bis hUtory of tlapast ten years as follow, hm spelling beInr according lo the "Twenty-four rules ": In pite of all dlfflculttes, however, the last teu -ars hav seeu a great deal of ameuded spelling, lu the Uuvurmenl circular No. 7, 1880, a blbllografy of spelling reform llteralure Is glvn. and lt oiakes a respectabt show. In our Bulletin No 16, lsagladsuui recapltu lailon of the newspapers and periodicals wblob bad tbem prlnted In lt Even in so curt a sumraary as thls I cannot forbear to mentlon the Chicago Tribune and the Home Journal. "Ou tlie second day of September, In the year of our Lord one thousand elght hundred and seventy-nine, tlie gri'-it procreaslv reprezentatlv paper of the North-yest apeardln amended spelllng thruout." Tlie Home Journal of New York, the American Jurnal of society, followd on the 171 h of Beptember. The l'liia Ilinild sliould also be nniitlond. Many papers amended a few words to apeaz thefr scholarly ioiis('1cth-'n. The Prlnceton Hevlew prluted "tho'" au "altho." the Llbrary Journal catalsg". lt Is salil [In 18861, tlwt more than 20DJurnals umi periodlcals lu thls country ar lnnovatltie more or lesa." Press assoclatlous mtopted resolHtlns lu favor of the reform. A leag of the editora and publlslmrs In lts behaif was mooted. There ww good promls of a new era. Ui not eazy tosay why thls promti falled. But In fact the currenl of acilv progress turned IQ otlier dlrection, and we flnd ourselves now looklng to less striking and less potent iiieana of carrylng the reform forward; lncreaslng the membershlp of our assoclation and "league." the clrculatlon of ao organiand otlier documenU, preparlnu and Introduclug our vocahulary of am-nli'd words and otber hand-books and text-book, urglng action by CXmgress, International actlon.and the llke.