The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1876-02-15
SPELLING SCHOOLS.

Where in the world have they gone
tor That they have gone glimmering
is too plain to be questioned. BY dill
gent cleaning in the newspapers we
have discovered one or two that Jagged
superfluous on the floor. But they
looked lonely, like the last rose OF
summer. What is the matter Have
Moody and Sankey, with their helpers
or imitators, superseded the sspelling
book and the dictionary
IL is well, no doubt, that il should
be so. Let us hopS that the protract-
ed meetings, upon which the people
are now intent, will be more perms-
nently useful than the spelling matches
so much in vogue year ago. We do
not see how any one can desire revi
val of that precise form Of lunacy.-
Think of the friendships that we're rup-
tured. and the engagements that we're
broken of, the neighborhood quarrels
that were engendered, and that may be
still spouldering in their ashes. But
there is melancholy side to this
scene. The prospect in somo respects
| is not encouraging. Is the noble art
of spelling to fall into the sere and vel
low leaf? Are our intellectual gym
nasts no longer to display their prov
ess in sthis arena How are We TO
know who are the strongest minds
among us, except by such feats as the
successful Of spelling phthisic and pen
tateuch I? Echo answers-to tell the
truth we hear no answer at all. We
have a profound admiration for those
who stand up and spell away hour af-
ter hour ut words they do not know the
meaning Of, and never have occasion
to use. But we wish from the bottom
Of our hearts il might become proper,
allowable, il not necessary, to write as
We speak. People might rise and re-
peat b-u-s-i-n-e-s-s to their hearts con-
tent, but when we wrote for reader,
and especially for q printer. We should
like TO put down plain biznes and be
done with il. We would even have a
Sam-and Him Book in our Churches.
Can any one tell why we should not?
1t is the true philosophical principle,
il there is any principle about it, that
the written word should correspond as
nearly as possible TO that which is
spoken. What justification is there
for such orthography as "hiccough," :"
for instance? No matter whether you
pronounce il "hik-kup" or hik-kof,
the spelling is alike misleading and un-
reasonable. We know there are many
ponderous arguments put forth in be-
half Of these intricate labyrinths Of the
dictionary. We shall probably be
reckoned stupid or illiterate, or both,
when We acknowledge that we see little
force in them.
II there isanything more absurd than
English orthography, we confess we do
not know where 10 look for it. From
the mere sound OF . word you can no
more tell how n word ought to be
spelled, according TO the dictionary,
than a gypsy can tell your fortune by
looking at the palm Of your hand. We
say according TO the dictionary, for law
in many cases, there is none. Why
should we write receive" and imme-
diately follow il with "belieye," and
then go on to "bereave, giving ali ut
terly confusing change OF vowels for
precisely the same sound? IL there il
any law or principle involved, we have
failed to discover il.
We reiterate our wish that we might
write as We speak. We do not advo-
cate lawlessness. We would oppose
strenuously the extravagant claim that
every independent American citizen is
at liberty to spell just as he pleases.
We would insist upon accurate pro-
nunciation, as q distinguished Ameri-
can scholar suggests, as securing most
efiectuslly that uniformity OF orthog.
raphy, which all acknowledge to be
desirable, and, in fact, indispensable.
But we would have il tight to write
rite every time that particular sound
would occur in reading what was put
into the manuscript or printed on the
page. IL the final were dropped aud
the long sound OF the vowel indicated
by some specific sign, thyt vould sui
us all the better.
We do not write thus with any ex
psctation that we shall live to see thes,
changes accomplished. Our rii-ualisu
is not of virulent type. We have {
spirit OF propagandism. We have no
sufficient devotion to .fiosofy to ISSUE
even prospectus OF nus paper to b,
the champion OF photographic reform
The miseries Of printers aud proof
readers, the perplexities Of foreigner
and uninitiated natives We are power
less 10 alleviate. But il is consslinl
to consider that the spelling school vii
. go down 10 posterity with undimin
, ished lustre. Perhaps 10 bi-centen
! nial days things, or rather words vii
lie in better shape. But we are no
{ hopeful. We imagine that even the
the spelling school will flourish in th
. land OF the free and the home OF th
krava fTolado pla1a