Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-02-18
IFo- re Iutellizsros-.l
THE oRTHoGRAPRIc REFORMING. L.
81 JUSTUS

FoEv, "Dezd-head," etc
Iii common boast that we, IS a people, sre
getting ahead proiigiously. In what other part
q ;he world DO people get up such superb oaoy-
shows, such woman S-rightS conventions, such
terrible fillibusteriug expeditions, such lnagnit
cent 9Th Of July orations: Undoubtedly we are
getting ahead, and smashing things generally;
but Is the direction altogether satisfactory: We
have teleETaphS, by which the very lighteniTgS
E Of The heavens are chained and made subSeITi-
ent 10 human purposes; railroads, With lecono-
IiveS that, diving into our mountains, and thin
iesiag along our valleys, snnihiiaie space. and
terTiiy the senses out Of all S!owgoerS; palaces,
vastly superior 70 anything Mr. Aladdin ever
dreamed Of that tiy across the ocean on wings
Of vaTroT, printlnC-P-eSSeS, throwing of .nou-
sands OF sheets daily, and scattering their vhele-
some influence around every fiveSide; reIperS,
;hreShers, and hundreds Of different scTts OF
labor-SzyIB=s machinery, which take the irudg-
rTy Of life from man and bind It on the eie
n=ntS- These are grand achievements that
nay well furnish themes for sporting orators
and iHciFient scTibblerS, and are worthy all the
foods OF lax, the tons Of paper, the taundeTs OF
eloquence- and The whirwindS Of breath, that
- -. sai--'-ied IN their laudation.
But thinking men hay4 .r.n,eiye-i that ttlv
true end has not yet been attained. They have
thought that these triun-phS Of genius and skill
should be considered not as an end, bur - a
HSTEs; that while we are inventing, building
. OF the world 70 contribute 20 mans power and
convenience, it would not be entirely unprofita
Die u iHTeSt 4 comparative pittanc- in the ua-
ciolzl intellect and morals 4 radical change
alone can effect this; for already things have
gJue on too long in the good old way. And
GoE, you who ride By railroad, communicate
by telegraph, and do every thing else on the
most approved plan should we introduce to
your consideration brief, plain, and, in every
respect, better method OF doing some things
than that in which your ancestors did them,
you Eill be veritable Turk, OF Chinaman, if
you condemn ii without q reasonable hearing.
Much has been done for the cause Of educa
ton in this country; much remains yet undone.
We have built fine colleges, and hired learned
men 10 teach in them; and we have honored
these institutions ss the very best in the land.
In many States the system Of free schools places
an ordinary education within the reach of every
one; and even where neither colleges nor free
schools offer their advantages, system of un-
systematic schools is kept up, in which the ii
sing generation are initisted into the mysteries
Of '.reaiin. writin and 'rithnetc.'' And vet in
our own State, between eighty and ninety thou
sands OF persons cannot read and wrItei Con-
Tossing that the facilities for obtaining an educa-
ton in immaculate Virginia are not such as
they should be, they are certainly too great
TO justify these alarming statistics ofignOrance.
In the Northern States the condition Of things
Is somewhat better; but according to the amount
Of attention paid to the subject, the result is
scarcely more gratifying than in our own State.
The secret Of failure i this TIE time sDsHt IN
acquiring n rN1ialsE'Ht sfL-IffOEl - yDeat uE-
prcftaJly. Learning to read occupies too many
years. How many of those eighty thousand
NirginianS have had tocrible opportunities of
education. They attended schools one, two
perhaps half dozen sessions, and began 10
penetrate the mystery of reading, took lessons
IN writing, but not until they had arrived at an
~ yrl We al N lazy Srft
when, not being encouraged to continue their
studies, they dropped them, and forgot the lit
tie they once knew. Others, owing to the pow
erty OF parents, (who in counting the cost of
educating their children, calculate by she YEAR,
were deprived of the advantages of schools
never even seeing the inside Of webster"
Why are these persons ignorant? Chiefly be-
cause reading is difficult OF attainment. And
why Is learning 10 read 80 difficult: Because
Out let the sequel show. Or if the reader ever
tutOred the tender ideas-if he ever sat with
moderately stupid boy at his side, and labOTed
by the hour TO hammer into him the orthodox
and Just method of spelling words, without
the tainteSt hopes of success striving in vain to
crush cut the child's natural perceptions oftruth
and to Stultify his reason, hy the most outrage
Gus falsehood and inconsistency,-and finally
mad 10 set him down a confirmed blockhead,
he will understand why learning to read is such
an arduOus task, and why 50 many thousands
of persons remain in ignorance.
Whenever discovery Is made, people are
ready to throw up their hands and wonder that
it was ''never thought of before" The ineni-
cheney Of 0rthography to represent the English
language, has been thought Of before. Such
men Franklin and Bishop wilkins, have
thought of it, spoken Of ii, written of it And
the Tightening tanning Printer has left this re-
cord: Sometime other it must be done or
our language will become the same with the
Chinese, to the difficulty of learning ana
using it" He continues: sit would have been
such if we had continued the Saxon spelling and
writing used by our forefathers"
Let US how forefathers happened to
have sdch outlandiSh photography III
seems that Cadmus introduced into Greece
the Phoenician or Syrian alphabet Whether
this was philosophical alphabet, we know not;
but it was evidently insufficient TO represent the
Greek language for eight letters were after
wards added at passed thence to the Latin,
says distinguished writer, ''and thence, as the
temporal and afterwards the spiritual arm OF
Rome weighed heavily over ali the countries of
Europe, the Latin form of this Phoenician al
phabet became fitted upon languages still less
adapted to receive it and difficulties grew frem
difficulties till the confusion worse cOnfounded,
of the English and French orthoSraphicS spread
around its tangled meshes." The RuHic was
the original alphabet in England, but different