resenting in English nearly the same elementary sounds which they represented in Latin, and that four other consonant sounds have now special signs appropriated to them, and consequently the following twenty-two letters shall remain as now: a (as in far), b, c (= k), d, e, f, g (as in go), h, i (as in pit), l, m, n, o (as in so, go), p, r, s, t, u (as in full, pull), v, w, y (as in yet), z. There are three short vowels unknown to the early Romans, and without proper representatives in English, for which we need new letters. These are the vowel sounds. heard in cat, not, but, and for these new letters, modifications of a, o, and u are proposed. We have five elementary consonants represented by digraphs, viz.: th (as in pith), th (=dh as in then, thine), sh, zh (as in azure, fusion), ng (as in sing). For these and for the two sounds. represented by ch (as in church), and g=j (as in gin, jet), new letters are wanted. Thus according to this scheme, the alphabet consists of thirty-two letters, ten of which are new to us, although the early English (Anglo-Saxon) had a character to represent the sound of a in that, and distinguished th (as in thin) from th=dh (as in then), the the latter being simply a crossed d. Were we now to use all these new characters at once, it would make a great change in the looks of many words, and consequently the committee recommended the gradual introduction of new letters and spellings, such for example as the use of only those new letters which resemble the displaced ones in form, and the dropping of silent letters.

Dr. Trumbull, in 1875, in his address before mentioned, proposed that a list of words be made for which amended spellings might be adopted. Acting on this, and on the assurance that several influential papers would use a few amended spellings, the association at its recent meeting, held at Saratoga in July last, recommended for general adoption in writing and printing new spellings for the following words: have, give, live, definite, infinite, are, guard, catalogue, though, through, wished, these words being representatives of classes in which changes are desirable and easy to make. In their changed spellings these words appear in the following form: hav, giv, liv, definit, infinit, ar, gard, catalog, tho, thru, wisht. The chief change, it will be seen, consists in dropping silent letters, especially final mute e after a short vowel, as is illustrated in the first five of the above words. These are good examples of the proposed "reformed spelling." Are they really the frightful destruction bringing havoc, making the foes of English, which many supposed them to be? Are they not rather the dictations of common sense trying to tear itself loose from the unreasonable bonds imposed by expediency and sanctioned by custom?

Such has been the action of this learned body of men, the originators and promoters of this movement which promises so much for the bettering of our language. Out of their action grew the International Convention held at Philadelphia, August 14-17, 1876, and in that convention originated the Spelling Reform Association, which has taken up and is now carrying on the work begun by the older society. The association held its first meeting at Baltimore in 1877, and adopted the alphabet and recommendations of the Philological Association. At the annual meeting in July last, the number of words for which new spellings are recommended, was limited to three of those above given, viz.: have, live, give, which exemplify but one principle the omission of mute e after a short vowel. The reasons adduced for this were that more extensive changes would not receive such general adoption, that compositors and proof-readers could easily follow these few changes, and that, while they would puzzle no one, these changes would accustom readers to the beginnings of a reform, and would impress them with the idea that a reform is desirable.-R. H. CAROTHERS, in Pa. School Journal.

MORAL EDUCATION.

By this is meant the kind of education a human being should receive at all hazards. So many still think it is done by sermons! So many still think only clergymen can do it! So many still think it can only be done by professing Christians! So many still think it is of no consequence! And worse yet, so many are utterly incapable in spirit, life, or knowledge to instruct in morals! How can a young girl of no seriousness of character, whose whole soul is given to her ringlets, make any serious impression upon her pupils? The folly of most of the so called educational official action will make its appearance at last in the way the public live. There never was greater hollowness in life than at present; and how can it be otherwise? John Jones gets John Smith in the adjoining school district, to give his son or daughter a "place to teach." They neither of them think that Not at all that, but to give Lucy Jones a chance to earn some money; she don't expect to teach morals; she couldn't. Thus have our schools fallen!

THE SCHOOLS ARE FOR THE CHILDREN.

A valued correspondent sends us an article from the Tribune on this theme:

"President Chadbourne, of Williams College, said to the Massachusetts teachers, at their recent meeting: 'If all moral and religious education is neglected, we shall some day be swallowed up by corruption. We want the same deep sense of responsibility and moral honesty that the Puritans possessed, though we want by no means to go back to those days. Enforcement of the principles of honesty, love of law, respect of labor, should never be forgotten, and we should ever aim to develop honest manhood and womanhood. Education does not consist in mastering languages, but is found in that moral training which extends beyond the school room to the playground and street, and which teaches that a meaner thing can be done than to fail in a recitation.'

"If it be good to find a college president interesting himself in the common schools, it is doubly good to have from his lips a presentation of the greatest need of those schools. For, assuredly, there is no larger want in them just now than the want of simple, practical, moral training. Education, in its true sense- to amplify President Chadbourne's sentence is not the cramming of certain facts and rules into the hard little head of a young Adam; it is the training that shall make his mind and moral nature malleable for the work of life; that shall cultivate honesty as well as mathematical capacity, truthfulness as well as linguistics, that shall send the boy out to his labor with a clean soul as well as a clever head.

"Of course, there would be no use in expecting in the Gradgrind sort of teacher the moral inspiration that could make him guide, with a practical little sermon here and there, his group of boys to higher life. But the teacher who goes to his work with his sense of its immense importance, with a realization of his obligation to something higher than a board of education - such a teacher holds a tremendous power in heart and voice. In heart we say for it is the practical Christianity that moves to good living and thinking that is wanted, rather than the cut-and-dried morality of a third-rate dogmatist. A child may be given an upward bent with a single sentence coming in a happy moment, but that sentence must be a thing of spirit; never mind the form. We do not advocate long moral sermons in the schools, but let there be a constant current of quiet instruction in the things that go to make men and women true, honest, and high-minded. Fifteen minutes, for instance, could well be spared from a day's German instruction if they went to make two or three boys feel keenly that cruelty, of which there is far too much in schools, was a stupid and sneak

ing thing. Not long ago, in a Western school, a boy received such savage and merciless treatment from his mates that he died a day two after from his injuries. What sort of education is it that does not teach children to feel themselves degraded by brutality like this? It is folly to leave all moral training to home and parents; the hours in which a child comes under those influences are more than balanced by the hours of school and play. Instruction in good living, if it be not continuous, like daily bread and sunshine, is of small account; and instruction in good living, given constantly, with simplicity, with heartfelt sincerity and kindness, is what children especially need to receive from their teachers. What shall it profit a boy, if he leaves school skilled in figures, but untaught in the manly honor that would make him an upright man of business? Or a girl, if with her grammar and rhetoric she has not learned to speak the words of truth, of unselfishness, of Christian charity.-N. Y. School Journal.

MORAL SUASION AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION.

Moral suasion is the best of school-masters, but how will he manage compulsory education? This is a serious question. Does not moral suasion need to be reinforced now and then by Mr. Hickory-HazelCome-Along? Would it not be better for certain obstreperous youths, whose ears are not open to the gentle tones of love and reason; would it not be better for society, to exercise a little coercion to force such youths to school, and make them behave themselves when there? Strange as it may seem, a large proportion of the friends of compulsory education laws are opposed to corporal punishment in the common schools under any circumstances. Unruly boys have no alternative but to "be good" or go into the streets.

An Indiana teacher has just been fined two dollars and costs for chastising a pupil. If the boy was as insufferable a torment as we have known, the privilege of trouncing him would be cheap at ten times this cost. But the generally approved method now, in all cases of insubordination, is to suspend the pupil and report to the directors, who lecture the youth, and send him back or expel him from school. Without doubt, this is the easiest course for the teacher; simply to open the door, and turn the bad boys into the street, to find their way in time to Bridewells, reform schools, and county jails. What say the champions of compulsory education to this? Is this what you

want? If not, will it not be best for coercion and moral suasion to compromise, so as to keep school together?

If anybody has followed the history of the boys who have been suspended and expelled from public schools, in any of our large towns or cities, he will confer a favor upon the tribe of naughty youths just fledged, and upon community at large, by giving them the benefit of his observations. Moral suasion is the best of school governors, but will some one please tell us how it is to benefit the boys who are bounced into the streets before they have made the acquaintance of this gentle spirit? There are still a good many people, including a number of school boards, who believe that the most of these boys would learn to take moral suasion, with a mild decoction of hazel bark at rare intervals, while without this corrective they would never acquire a taste for it. There is certainly very little moral suasion in the reform schools to which so many unschooled boys are driven. Herded with thieves and pickpockets, they must learn to submit to jail discipline. A school board assumes a fearful responsibility when, in the name of moral suasion, it thrusts the youth of the commonwealth into lanes and alleys to avoid the disagreeable task of disciplining them in their schools, as good parents would do at home. "The whole need not a physician," and if no children are allowed to remain in public schools except those who have been well governed at home, the task of the teacher and school board is greatly lightened; but how seriously are the benefits of the common school restricted? Now, that men are asking how far our system of education is responsible for the vices of the troublesome elements of society, would it not be well to revise some of our school rules which relieve teachers from educating the very class of girls and boys who receive least wholesome training at home, and therefore need public school training the most?-Chicago Weekly Journal.

SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. It requires coolness of judgment, evenness of temper, a sunny disposition, considerable knowledge of human nature, and ripe experience, to govern the primary school. The discipline there is not the rod, the frown or angry word, but love. The heart of the little pupil must be reached; but you can never possess it by harshness. The human disposition is so varied that the means you would employ to secure the earnest attention of one child would utterly fail you with another. Your resources must therefore be as