Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1844-07-04
Bostoi, Ird 25M, 1914.

|, Mr. Andrews, You request an en-
preston OF my opinion conserving the
merits of Phonography. may say in
expressing such nn opinion, that II Is
lormed after Il merely cursory attention
to the subject. And am prepared to
| speak more confidently OF the prospects
! ol tho ~ ystcm, than ol Ils merits. 1T l.
destined inevitably to a desperate strug
! Gle with the dread OF Innovation, attach
men to even the 5arbarisrn 10 which we
! have been educated, the aversion to
make ouI own attalnments useless, aud
! the Interests of The crafts Of book making
! aud book selling. These arc selfish in
ltcrests, with which It must ultimately
| JOIN issue. Besides them, IT will meet a
| natural dread IN scholars OF losing the
chronological aid of the existing orihogra-
! ply. Although even here the question
! has been started with ne, whether now
the sound ls not twice as frequently "a
| clue to etymologic analogy as the ar
bnrary visible sign. Those who have
! attended even less than myself to the
subject, may inquire on what ground 1t
IS anticipated that this system will acquire
sufficient favor to bring 1t TO II position
where it can disturb the quiet dignity oi
the old o,lhography. TO dis il may be
answered, on The ground OF philanthropy
and of scli-In,crest This may be illus
traed by a simple case :-Suppo,e a
child TO have been, taught the existing
! alphabet and tho proposed alphabet. In
the one case he call, the letter 5, ess ;;
! h, he names aiich o, {, cc. In
! the other he has a character, no matter
! what suppose to represent the sound,
| which we now represent 10y sh and
| anothcr character 10 represent 90, sup
! pose II is - Now his teacher slls down
! TO instruct HIN IN the art of reading -
| The word To be read Is the name Oi the
article which covers the feet Tho child
knows the word by lis sound, but not
10y liS written signs. The teacher has
two means Of teaching AT his command
|. In the one case hc writes the letters
is hoe. Taken by iher names, for that
| Is the first process 10 The chIId's mind,
| they spell tins strange word, eSsGiichOce
/ But the pOoI chlld has never heard of an
es5altchuco ~ his Iio The teacher
points to his feet But that Is shoe,
moi an ossailchoec. What, then, is to be /
done A new process must be CON,
menced, winch Is 10 uulcarn what he has /
Just been learning. Aud the child is
taught that he Is neither To say css, nor
anch, nor o, uor ce but simply Shu |,
IIe believes ii is so, because, fortunate Il
ly, children are crcduIous. But for the II
, life OF him he cannot see how, no, nor
why. It Is so. Ia this however, he is as
wlso aS his teacher. Now let us sup II
pose teachers 10 try the other method.
/ The child has learned wherever he
sees TO sound sh, and wherever he
sees -, TO say 90, tacn when the teacher
writes before hun -, ho laughs, aud
cries on, like lutte conqucrcr or dis.
covcrcr, why that's shoo' This, you
say, IL small affair Admit it, sir I'll
but II il at the same time great affair
Tho difference n the time and labor of
teacher aud pupil 10 the pcrpIoxIty aud
confusion which addlc aud weary the
little brain may amount to "A trilc IN II
learning the word shoe, 10 the present or
the proposed way. But when you como
10 multiply tins into th,r,y thousand words,
aud countless millions OF children that Il
arc yet to learn To read and added To
these, all the toll Of acquiring foreign II
languages IN adult age you may begin
To think that tho immense clemcU: oI
multiplication has great weight IN this
mdtirr But | have here conlounded +.
The two considerations on which my an
ticipatlons are founded. ! believe that
where mere philanthropy and mere self /,
interest come 10 appreciate The hidden
powers olths system, they will disregard
all the barriers Of usage aud criticism and
contempt from high places. ! have had
III these remarks, no reference to the \
sluuogrophlc branch of the art. No one
can doubt for an instant that there us
triumph will bc complete, at least until
something better shall be presented -
Tho mere fact that stenogiapbors can
scarcely dcciphcr then own productions,
Ut II bo a general fact, a. l ain told, n
~ that uo one else can rrud them, while n
correspond, ~ uaslly and delightfully."- /,
conducted 10y this, viii ensure III sue
cess. The fact that ministers, authors
aud editors npw wtiIo five i,ncs a. many N
lrticfs ~ lm.s as are necessary, will give
currency tu thi- branch vi tho au. The
facts ~ ~ vast economy ~ paper and
ness wutk and ~ immense advantages
~ i,i,itu,, w. the study oi lOiUieu Ian
gDag'.. s,t So obsiou. Ia NY Owu nnDd "