THE SPELLING OF ENGLISH
[To the Editor of THE Sei•:crATohl SIR,—Thanks to you, Sir, for the insertion of the article on the spelling of English, and to Professor Gilbert Murray for the considerate and comprehensive manner he has treated this most important subject. If it were looked upon as a human device, and not as an idol, but as Dr. Howells has described it, as the greatest monument of human folly, possibly it would have been sensibly regulated, in this practical age, long before now, as Holland did two years ago.
As an instrument of tuition in the acquisition of the nriglish language, it claims the immediate and serious attention of all educationists, men of business and parents, as the 'greatest subject with which an English student must become acquainted ; it is incumbent that it should be made accessible in the most speedy way, and without the expenditure of time now so largely wasted in the school life of the vast number of young pupils. The 'increasing demand for the efficient education of all subjects throughout the British Empire requires that no needless time should be expended in the tuition of the English language, but utilised in the most efficient manner possible.
The reformation of English Spelling for general adoption by all who write, type and print English, at home or abroad, may be made later, by an efficient Committee, which should institute an inquiry into this important problem..
Simplified Spelling Society, D. DRUMMOND.
Rydal Mount, Hetton-le-Hole.
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