The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-05-20
educational.
For The Cecil Wing.
POPULAR EDUCATION.
No. v T..

No. vi.
Tn The Wing of the 9th instant, appeared
an article in opposition to the system of spell
ling, which it is the object of these essays to
recommend.
The article in question isa reply to the first
communication on the subject published in
The Wing, which does not exactly belong to
the present series.
That article was too brief to admit of its
several positions being so fully established,
that 1t would be impossible to call them in
question. The objections are such as might
he expected to arise upon the first view of the
subject, but they may be easily put to rest.
If this series of essays be considered so as to
do Justice to the cause of Popular Education,
it is most likely that &. II. T., if he caldidly
read them, will find that his objections have
disappeared.
return then to the history of phonetic
spelling
Isaac Pitman of Bath England, the inventor
of photography, also digcsted Phonetic al
phabct adapted to the printed page. Phono-
graphic shorthand, as stated in my last arti-
clcs first came into use in 1887. This art is
for the benefit of those already educated and
applies almost solely to writing. The author
soon discovered that his principles would ap-
ply to an alphabet for printing as we'll as to
one exclusively for writing. but the task of
supcrscding the present orthosraphy, seemed
too difficult to be thought Of But the more
he considered the subject, the more he became
convinced that "whatcvcr is desirable is prac-
ticablc to ali earnest mnd.' Accordingly our
Roman alphabet was modified and extended
so as to embrace about 40 characters. After
some experiments, it was elaborated into
nearly its present form in 1915, when types
for the new letters were cast, and books and
periodicals published and extensively circu-
lated in England. Alexander J. Ellis was an
associate with Pitman in the fonotyric de-
partment of his invention.
Before proceeding to speak of the practical
operations of this admirable scheme, let Us
turn to contemplate some other movements
of the same character, originating indepcn-
/dent of this, and of each other. About the
same period when 1. Pitman was contriving
his system of shorthand; Dr. A. Comstock
was engaged in Philadelphia as teacher Of
clocution, and was especially noted for curing
the habit Of stammcring. He made use of a
chart containing the 40 simple sounds of the
language, (tho some of them were compounds)
represented by the 26 Roman letters. From
his success i'll fixing correct habits of speech
by exercising his pupils in pronouncing these
elementary sounds, the idea was naturally
suggested that with separate character for
each, he would have "pcrftct" alphabet.
His experience as well as theory satisfied bin
that such an alphabet would be Of immense
advantage in the instruction of children.
Borrowing some Greek letters he constructed
an alphabet upon classical principles, and
about the year 1910 made use of it in the
pages of periodical, and an edition of the
new testament and other books. This alpha
bet might have served our purpose; but that
of Ptman and Ellis, based upon the same
analysis of the language looks much more
familiar to an Impractical eye, came more
rapidly into favor and is now in much more
extensive use.
Phonetic movements have since been
springing up in other quarters. These may
for time cause a little jarring i'll presenting
their respective claims to the public. But
they are all based on the same principles and
from their nature must aid in each others diff
fusion rather than otherwise. Wherever any
one of these movements may be put into OPP
Grafton, altho it should decline and die out, it
will have prepared for the establishment of a
more successful rival. Their nature is idcn-
teal. They can differ only in the forms Of
the new letters, and the particular use Of
each character.
One of these schemes has been lately an
nounced as being brought to light at meet
ing of some of the greatest scholars of the
present age, held in London. Sir John Her.
shcl. already mentioned as recommending a
reformed spelling was of their number. They
produced an alphabet based on phonetic prin-
ciples, intended for the representation of all
languages. But little can be said here of this
alphab for want of information, but from the
source in which it originated We may infer