The Weekly comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1853-1855, 1855-01-28

he masters it, only to find more and
greater difficulties at every step he
takes in advance. He soon finds that
the letters-the spelling Of a word
will not guide him to q correct pro-
nuncIatiop. lie finds plough pro-
nouneed plou - cough pronounced
kawf, bough pronounced bow. through
pronounced thru--slongh pronounced
sluf. and SO on to the end of the chap
ter and that nothing but the oft re-
reated instruction of the living teach
er-through the medium of The ear
will even enable him to treasure ND
this evanesoent knowledge, knowledge
that must be the work of memo
ry, and that long and teduos must be
the application Of powers capable
Of higher employment, ere knowl-
edge of correct pronunciation is CO -ex-
tensive with the ordinary demands of
life. And what is the result +! Pity,
It's SO but the result is that there
are few, very few indeed, if any, a
mong us, who do not feel that they are
liable to be put to the blush for ignor-
ance OF correct pronunciation and
none are more sensible Of this fact
than the best cultivated. Need these
things be-
1t is no easy task to load down the
memory with the critically correct
pronunciation of each individual, of
our 10000 words. It is absolutely
beyond the al ility Of most minds, as
now circumstanced. The scboolboy
learns some-guesses at more, and re-
mains ignorant of, by far the larger
part and when he attempts to read
what he knows, he pronounees what
he does not know be guesses at, mum
bles, swallows, or jumps over and hav-
ing reached the end, takes his seat.
This repeated day after day, becomes
confirmed habit, increasing in
strength, as the boy becomes man
and thus has the manhood of England
and America, two of the proudest ma
tions on this earth, gone forth from
the schoolhouse, with only dubious
bewilderlng notion, of the correct pro.
nunciation of their own most noble
language-a language better than any
other adapted to the wants of the
whole family of man, and which at
this moment bids fair to become ere
long the universal medium for the in
terobange Of thought among men.
Art. science, geography. are cont
ally giving US new terms, and hither.
to unheard of names, both of persons
and places, as well as Of things; while
literature itself in its own proper
sphere, is continually swelling our
word list, and presenting some new
and often unsolvable problem in or.
thoepy Thus from his a, b, abs to
his graveis the learner of English pro-
nunciation beset,
But it is the first stages of his prog
gress that his difficulties are most
perplexing and from which the worst
consequences Aow-many fail Of learn
ing to read at all, and many more re-
main unable to read with Satisfaction
to themselves or others, and with all
there is great waste Of time, labor,
books and money as repeated expert
ment has shown that by slight mod
ification of elemental representation
the time of learning to read may ba
reduced one half, M. M. 3.
ITThe story of an editor who was
robbed Of $500 Of his owa money is
about to be dramatized it is understood
that the title Of the play will be The
Great Unknown.
SHOOTING AFFRAY-A distressing
affair occurred in Cincinnati, on Satur-
day night week, in front of the Nation
al Theatre. A yong man named Jen-
nings circulated reports unfavorabe
to the character Of yong lady recent
ly married to Fl. II. Or1nsbee, clerk
in the National Telegraph Office, who.
meeting Jennings in the theatre ask
ed him it he was anthor of the alleged
reports and his replying in the affrma-
tive, Ormsbee took out pistol and
shot him. mutjIatiDg his face terri
bic, and rendering his recvoery very