The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-01-24
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THE SPELLING REF0RM--ITG ELE-
MEETS OF SUCCESS. eo
Mrs. M. e. WALKER, Chicago.

Having set 10fCA last week tne OD
iects to be obtained as the result Of
The spelling reform, we next note its
ELEMENTS. OF SUCCESS.
Clearly compromising the gigantic
work before us, we ask what element;
of success does it contain?
First, we claim that the origin and
growth of language insure the simple
representation Of the spoken aoord.
When man was made a social being
to him was given the power of speech
by him was understood the revelation
of speech. That musical instrument
the voice, set in tune by the great Ma.
ker, obeyed the will Of man, and its
coupled companion, the ear, caught
up the strains and communicated them
to,the intelligent soul. God spake and
man responded. The tongue found
out its cunning and the ear was prick
ed with it's melody. Spoken language
is the wonderful gift from God. When
social intercourse was interrupted by
the scattering of the people, material
things took on a new significance, and
were employed as tokens of love or
hatred, remembrance or revenge, and
life or death, and the deft hand found
out its handiWork and shaped after
the First Master its lifeless but still
expressive copy; or taught by the
traceries Of the Divine Teacher in frost
and stone and mirroring waters pen
ciled its rude copy Of material things,
or symboliZed the emotions of the
mind and aspirations of the soul. Thus
taught by God came forth sculpture
and painting, representing both the
seen and the unseen. And man look
cd upon his own work and pronounced
it wonderful. But the spur Of pro-
gress still urges on, From dove, and
image, and painting, the idea Of
representation bursts forth in glory
and spreads it's broad wings over the
fast receding past and the far-reaching
future, linking together the genera
lions that were, and are, and are to be,
by faithful record. The dead past can
no longer bury it's dead, but the great
and good redeemed from the short life
Of existence and tradition, are even
with us in thoughts that breathe and
words that burn" From crude HE
roglyphic, with unnumbered symbols,
representing the ideas Of the mind or
the impulses Of the voice, has grown
out, nourished by the progress and en-
Ightenment of the ages, the art Of
1Oyit5Dg. And civilized nations with
one accord go back from biography to
that great first factor in language, the
voice, and analyze it's powers and on
them found its written language. And
how few and simple are the units
which enter into this wonderful art.
Less than fifty simple sounds for all
tongues. Less than fifty simple SYM
bols for the pens of all people.
Oh, that again the genius of man
had been taught alone of God! But no.
The connections of war, the mandates
Of tyrants,and the sWords of,conquerors
stamp their impress on the young art,
and warp and distort it's elements by
strange and homogeneous relations.
And out of this chaos, born of war and
forced alliance, comes to us our cher
1shed English Cherished-I speak
not i'll derision, for as dear to us as the
land Of our liberty arc the accents of
our mother tongue. But the English
e0T5ttefo language is not the boast of
the English speaking people. Indeed
1t has never been recognized by them
as the exponent of their speech, and
the Judgment and discrimination of
this enlightened people can be traced
In The pruning and purifying Of it's
language. And, to-day, we find our
selves IN the midst of this glorious
work. British or American, the world
looks on and holds us responsible forthe
errors we wink at Why stand we thus
idle? Are we SO conservative that we
will blind our eyes to the light of our
time? The harvest is already full, and
will yield its fruit-into the lap of this
generation if she will but receive it: if
not, into the fertile ground Of the years
to come.
Though scattered by the winds of
scott and derision, though blighted by
prejudice and ignorance and chilled