UC-NRLF 
 
 m 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Class 
 
 M 
 
CONGRESS, 
 1st Session. 
 
 Doc. No. 126. Ho. 
 
 
 [EW PROJECT FOR REFORMING THE ENGLISH ALPHA- 
 BET AND ORTHOGRAPHY. 
 
 THE MEMORIAL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. EZEKIEL RICH, OF TROY, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
 
 SETTING FORTH 
 
 plan of a reformed Alphabet and Orthography, and praying^ the assist- 
 ance of Congress to extend a knowledge of it over the nation. 
 
 FEBRUARY 19, 1844. 
 
 Read, and laid upon the table. 
 
 As a facility in a new self-supporting system of general and liberal 
 Education, (which has heen proved feasible in a school of six years,) as 
 k facility also in literary business, I have, during some eight years, been 
 Considering the importance and practicability of a thorough reformation 
 >f our written language, and a strict conformation thereof to the spoken, 
 have at length come to some results, which I wish extensively to com- 
 mnicate, especially among the people of this country. 
 Spoken language has usually originated among the unenlightened, and, 
 >y its own ductility, in its progress towards perfection, it keeps pace with 
 ineral national improvement. But with the writing of this language it 
 Is far otherwise. By the exactness and stability of its forms, it must 
 remain unchanged, unless by general consent. On these accounts, chiefly, 
 the speaking and the writing of the same language do invariably, without 
 special preventions, tend towards a separation, though very slowly, and 
 therefore without notice or alarm. Hence, by convention, they should be 
 irought together, when all that- is wrongjn writing should be corrected, 
 ind when means should, if possible, ttfgflMkutcd to keep them together. 
 t the commencement of the last cenffl^ffhe writing of our language 
 far indeed from perfection. From that time its capacity for a full and 
 iimple representation of our increasing number of primary sounds has been 
 gradually diminishing, till it has finally become intolerable, raising from 
 nany, especially foreigners, the cry for reformation radical and speedy, 
 if possible ; but at any rate, a reformation. 
 
 In obedience to this loud and pressing call, many in this age of improve- 
 Iment have projected, and some even have attempted, such a reformation ; 
 (though as yet without much success. But should my vast labor upon this 
 work also prove unavailing ; yet these facts do actually encourage me in 
 \it ; for they do all show that such a reformation is greatly needed ; that 
 lit is now crowding hard upon us ; that it is struggling vigorously for 
 
 \ Blair & Rives, print. 
 
 226962 
 
2 . Doc. No. 126. 
 
 existence;, that^it'must joon burst into being, and, with might, majesty, 
 d^:go\-}f$le$l)ur \hfifty*?i(ition 9 and all who use our rapidly spreading 
 literature. ThdugTi'flite hiay appear to some strange and paradoxical, 
 yet it is in fact true. 
 
 Well aware that this is a great work, requiring both talent and enter- 
 prise, and the favor of Heaven likewise; well aware, also, that this grand 
 concern of patriotism, philanthropy, and religion, is depending solely on 
 the pleasure of the English Republic of Letters the authors and publishers ; 
 yet it seemed that I could do something towards forwarding so desirable 
 an object, by showing plainly to my countrymen, and as far as possible to 
 the English race, the "vast necessity and the immense utility of a simple and 
 complete alphabet, containing one distinct, visible, invariable sign for each 
 of our forty important primary sounds, and an orthography relieved of all 
 redundancies and complexity, and at agreement, in the main, at least, with 
 the most generally approved standards of English orthoepy. This is 
 indeed my humble aim and design, while I seek for Heaven's blessing, and 
 the smiles of the nation, and of the English race, upon the favored ones 
 who shall accomplish the task I have begun, but may not live, or be able, 
 to accomplish. Be assured, then, that I have not entered on this business 
 without first counting the cost. 
 
 I w r ill now endeavor to give the chief reasons for this reformation : 
 
 1. Our spoken language, on account of its combined excellencies, its 
 variety, copiousness, strength, melody, and majesty, is, to say the least, 
 one of the best now living in the world ; while somehow its written form, 
 by its astonishing deficiencies and redundancies, is, as far as i know, quite 
 the worst in the world; not to except, on some accounts, even the French. 
 This is a fact I conclude none will deny ; and of course it needs no proof. 
 Now who would not strongly desire that this valuable and refined lan- 
 guage should be furnished with a dress in natural and decent harmony 
 with its beauty and worth, dignity and glory ? Let our senses of consist- 
 ency. % of propriety, of congruity, and of honor also, be here exercised, 
 and produce their natural and legitimate fruits. 
 
 2. Our alphabet is both redundant and deficient. Four of our twenty- 
 six letters are useless, of course greatly injurious c, j, q, and x, their 
 place being supplied by other letters already and necessarily in the alpha- 
 bet. We have therefore, at most, but twenty-two available letters to re- 
 present our primary sounds, which are at least forty. There have been 
 many doubts and decisions against w also, as redundant; but I have 
 finally concluded to retain it, believing it to represent different degrees pf 
 a very light consonant sound peculiar to itself, in unison with the vowel 
 sound of it in full, and o in wolf. We have, then, but two more letters than 
 half as many as we do absolutely need! Who can realize this, and not 
 advocate an immediate supply of eighteen new ones, that every important 
 primary sound may have one and its own peculiar mark to represent it to 
 the eye. 
 
 Our said twenty-two letters were once enough doubtless to represent 
 all the elementary sounds then in use. But this number for ages remain- 
 ing the same, and the oral language, the whole time, improving and 
 becoming more and more copious, it has now become extremely deficient. 
 What, then, should be done? Surely as goods increase, so should store- 
 room. As children in a family multiply, so should appropriate names to 
 represent and distinguish them. Hence, truly, as ^he primary sounds of 
 
Doc. No. 126. 3 
 
 language are added, they should be marked with additional appro- 
 priate letters. What strange and ridiculous shifts arid expedients have 
 we heen driven to, that we might, somehow, possibly get along with the 
 old alphabet! What would you think of a tiller of the ground who had, 
 for years, at vast expense, grovved twice as much corn as he could either 
 dispose of or accommodate with room ? Or, of the condition of a family, or 
 a school, containing forty children with only twenty-two names for the 
 whole ? Worse than this, indeed, is it for us to have but twenty-two letters 
 to represent and distinguish our forty different primary sounds. Of course 
 we must necessarily put a number of very different sounds on the same 
 letter, as some four or five on a, about as many on o, &ic. ; all unavoidably 
 bringing on the learner much useless labor and vexatious embarrassment, 
 causing even years of the precious time, liberty, comfort arid joy of our 
 dear children to be worse than thrown away. Expunge the four useless let- 
 ters, and add eighteen new ones, and you will do much towards perfecting 
 the alphabet, and bringing up the written to the spoken language, and 
 cause an immense saving in literary education and business. Is not here, 
 then, a good reason for a radical and thorough reformation ? 
 
 3. Another reason for this reformation, and a principal one, is the many 
 different methods in the old orthography of expressing the same sounds, and 
 that by sounded letters. I have already discovered one hundred and eighty- 
 one. Forty such methods are all that we need. Of course one hundred 
 and forty-one of them are redundant and useless. More may remain to be 
 discovered ; but, probably, not many. This is an astonishing and doleful 
 fact, causing by itself alone about four and a half times the otherwise 
 necessary labor of learning to read, as is demonstrated b} dividing the 
 said one hundred and eighty -one, the whole number, by forty, the whole 
 necessary number. Indeed, this would be true were all these different 
 methods of expression simple, distinct, and uniform. But they are inter- 
 woven, implicated, and enveloped in a thousand tangles and witchknots^ 
 To extricate and unfold these would puzzle and perplex even a philoso- 
 pher, if he were now for the first time put to the task. Although you who 
 early become what are usually called good spellers and readers, and have 
 in better days, forgotten most of the many educational afflictions, hard- 
 ships, and torments of your dependent, confiding, obedient, and buoyant 
 childhood, may not at once, perhaps, be ready to acknowledge the truth 
 of this story ; yet the great expense of our hard-earned money in common 
 primary schooling the quantity of our children's time spent in irksome, 
 stupifying, and demoralizing confinement the privation of their many 
 innocent and keenly relished juvenile pleasures and enjoyments and the 
 loss of their comfort, health, and often even of life, during years spent 
 upon this almost inexplicable snarl upon our very deficient, and our re- 
 dundant alphabet our clumsy, complicated, and barbarous orthography, 
 both the most shapeless, ugly, and inconvenient to be found among all the 
 nations of the earth, tells its sad reality, and tells it with an iron voice and 
 a hundred tongues ! 
 
 I beg you here to allow me to illustrate a little freely. Take, for example, 
 a, the only pure vowel in our whole written language, all the others being, 
 sometimes used as consonants. It should mean a as in hate, and nothing 
 else, and no other letter or letters should mean a. But what is the fact ? 
 Why, a not only means a, but it also means au as in hall, and a as in part, 
 
 and ah as in sirrah, and ah as in hat, and oh as in wash, and uh as in ex- 
 
4 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 hilarate, and eh as in any, and ih as in courage nine different meanings* 
 But this is by no means the extent of the difficulty. For e sometimes 
 means a, as in the contracts e'er, ne'er ; also ei as in eight, and ey as in 
 they. There is, however, a worse trouble still ; for o sometimes means 
 au and 6 the same as a; and aa sometimes means a, and ah, and uh the same 
 as a. Moreover, e, ei, and ey, like a, sometimes mean ah. I might go 
 on and double the length of this strange account ; but* let this suffice. 
 Now what a snarl, puzzle, maze, and labyrinth, for a child, or even a 
 philosopher, to develope and disenthral! Well might the dear little boy, 
 who had not become entirely benumbed at school, nor there lost quite all 
 his native genius and inquisitiveness, in the simplicity of his heart ex- 
 claim, " Why, master, it seems a means most every thing, and most every- 
 thing means a, and how shall I know what to call them ?" But, on some 
 accounts, it is worse with e 9 i, o, and u, especially as each is sometimes 
 used as a consonant. On quitting the vowels at present, let me state a 
 few strange facts : I have already discovered not less than twenty-three 
 different methods of expressing the short simple sound uh, or u as in duck ; 
 fourteen of expressing eh, or e as in met ; eleven of expressing e, or e as 
 in mete ; and eleven of expressing ih, or i as in pin. In searching among 
 the consonants, I find things, in this respect, very bad, though not so bad 
 as among the vowels. In one instance I have found eleven ; in another 
 eight ; and in another six different methods of expressing the same sound. 
 This is probably the most embarrassing and vexatious evil found within 
 the precincts of our literature, or that of any other nation ; and it should, 
 if possible, be expelled. 
 
 4. The grievous cumbrance of silent letters is another and a strong argu- 
 ment for a reformation. With these our writing and printing have be- 
 come loaded and clogged. Though some of them are sometimes used to 
 mark some particular sound of some other letter, as e to mark the sound 
 of o in note, and a in hate; yet generally they are entirely useless nothing 
 but old rubbish in the "way. These were doubtless once all sounded ; for 
 who could be such a horrid misanthrope as to have put them in, or any one 
 of them, without just occasion. But tact also proves this in some cases, 
 which will settle the doctrine for the whole. Take, for example, the 
 word Wednesday; this was originally written Woden's day, or the day 
 of Woden, an ancient British idol. For ease of pronunciation and plea- 
 santness of sound, it has, in course of time, become changed to Wednes- 
 day. This teaches us how we came by the silent d and e in that word. 
 The case is similar, I conclude, with regard to such letters in all other 
 /words. Our written language has so far improved and changed from 
 what it formerly was, that the sounds once marked by these letters are 
 discontinued, while the letters themselves are still retained a hearty useless 
 burden, because none had conventional authority to throw them out. They 
 at length seem to have acquired a kind of sacredness, like the old wooden 
 gods'of the ancient Hawaiians displaced by new ones, and set outside of 
 their temples, which the celebrated Capt. Cook molested at the forfeiture 
 of his life! And perhaps /ought to look out, lest I, /or molesting these old 
 silent letters, should share the same fate! 
 
 Without a reformation, this evil is still slowly but constantly increasing. 
 I well remember when some letters, now silent, were sounded. There 
 are now some letters in a state of transition from sound to silence, as ts 
 in priests, th in clothes. But there is another change going onward in 
 
Doc. No. 126. 5 
 
 our language, though more slowly still. Another sound is becoming ex- 
 tant, requiring another letter and another syllable, all as yet without any 
 additional marking, as in flou A r, ou A r, prison, spas A m. More than all this, 
 there is a new primary sound, coming slowly into existence, and used in 
 several interjections. It is a deep guttural mute, formed with open mouth, 
 by closing the glottis. This has never been marked with an appropriate 
 letter; nor has it, to my knowledge, before been noticed. It is possible 
 that some primary sounds have also been going slowly out of existence. 
 Thus time operates on language, as a river on the adjacent land, taking 
 off in one place and building on in another. All these changes in oral 
 language call for corresponding changes in the written. 
 
 5. The mere preparations for the knowledge valuable in itself have cost 
 quite too much. The expense of money, time, and toil, laid out on the 
 tools, scaffolding, and other preparations for raising the temple of know- 
 ledge, has prevented much pleasant and useful labor upon the glorious 
 building itself. Therefore, our alphabet and orthography, also our gram- 
 mar and chirography too, if you please, essential parts of such prepara- 
 tion, should be rendered much more simple and easy, and, withall, a much 
 more agreeable part of a primary education. This would give our children 
 much time, now worse than thrown away in sore and ruinous confinement, 
 to be pleasantly employed in the noble, captivating, and delightful busi- 
 ness of storing up treasures of useful knowledge, appropriate to their age, 
 inclination, and genius such as oral language, natural history, and the 
 rudiments of numbers, of some mechanic arts, of music, of physiology, and 
 of the physical sciences in general, &tc. &c. This topic would furnish 
 matter for a long discourse ; but I cannot now stay about it. Though a 
 short hint, may it prove a seasonable and efficient one to all parents and 
 other teachers, to all officers, counsellors, and helpers in an early domes- 
 tic and common school education. *! speak as unto wise men ; judge ye 
 what 1 say." 
 
 6. Bv^neglecting tiiis reformation, we give other nations the advantage 
 over us. Whether considered with regard to our own internal national 
 concerns, or to our comparison with other nations, this furnishes a new 
 and considerable article of political economy. This argument must touch 
 our national pride and our patriotism in a tender spot. Knowledge is 
 wealth and power; and, in connexion with judgment and virtue, it is 
 ivisdom. Do think, then, of the three years saved in a primary education, 
 and of the four, when a classic and professional is also included, all to be 
 devoted to the pleasant and rapid acquisition of the most valuable and 
 available knowledge. Think, also, of the immense object of saving orie- 
 tliird in learning the art of writing, and in all literary business, public 
 and private; but, above all, take into sober consideration the vastly supe- 
 rior literary facilities furnished by the simple and complete alphabets, and 
 the pure and natural orthographies of some of the old nations, and more 
 especially those of some small nations lately arisen from a state of totally 
 illiterate barbarism, such as the Cherokees and the Sandwich Islanders. 
 With regard, to this thing, also, the Bible saying, "The first shall be last, 
 and the last first," may yet be verified. These superior facilities, when they 
 shall have had time for maturity, and for producing their natural results, 
 will probably, other things being equal, cause the children of the last men- 
 tioned nations to be better educated at twelve years of age than ours at 
 sixteen, unless we do, in this respect, give ours equal privileges. I think 
 
6 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 it a generally conceded fact, that our language has a worse external dress 
 that that of any other nation. This nation, therefore, and all who use 
 our language, are suffering extreme comparative disadvantage, and should 
 be effectually aroused to our senses on the subject, and be forward and the 
 Jirst, at a thorough reformation. If Old England, from whom we derived 
 our existence and our mother tongue, will not reform, or take the lead in 
 this object let this young nation, her vigorous and enterprising child, set 
 her a good example, and avail ourselves of the natural advantages of her 
 delinquency. Here truly is an exciting national argument, and will we 
 be either English or Americans, and not feel its force, nor be early at 
 reform ? 
 
 7. Another argument is, the great increase of the English and the Anglo- 
 American enterprise and power. The many improvements among this 
 peculiar and distinguished race of men, especially since the commence- 
 ment of the last century, furnish a good argument to sustain the case 
 in hand. In accomplishing this grand affair, so necessary and so -vast 
 in its consequences, we should be acting worthy of our race and name 
 worthy of ourselves. Will you now just take a glance at the rapid 
 advance of this noble section of human (of Enoch and Noah's) posterity 
 during these one hundred and forty-four years, notwithstanding all our 
 grievous embarrassments and hindrances, their advance, I mean, in 
 general learning, in the various solid and useful sciences, in the many 
 mechanic and liberal arts, in agriculture and commerce, in civil and 
 religious light and liberty, and in their many successful inventions and 
 efforts for the benefit of our own sort of people, and for the general 
 elevation, improvement, and amelioration of the condition and pros- 
 pects of mankind. Consider, also, the hasty and gigantic growth, within 
 this term, f the English and American wealth and influence in the 
 earth, and the swift extension of our language in many and populous 
 nations, and in all hemispheres arid climes; thus, sofar 9 fairly promising, 
 according to the strong opinion of some learned men, to become universal ; 
 and then say, whether English consistency and English glory do not im- 
 periously demand corresponding enterprise for the thorough reformation 
 of the elements of our wide-spreading literature, and for bringing them for- 
 ward from where the dark ages left them, up to the present English wants 
 and demands, to the high and noble aims of this people, and to a con- 
 gruous level with our other general standards in this eventful and im- 
 proving age. Now, who of our blood and spirit and tongue can resist this 
 argument ? 
 
 8. The great helps which this reformation would afford in the general 
 concerns of education, is my last argument. This is rather a compend of 
 arguments, which, however, have a strong relationship among themselves. 
 I will just notice these in proper order. 
 
 1. It would annihilate the vast and endless task of learning to spell the 
 very numerous and strangely written words of our language, which have 
 been, by mere dint of memory, necessarily learned, each by itself, without 
 much assistance from general rules ; for, the sounds of the words would, 
 in writing, invariably suggest the proper letters. Think of the years that 
 would be saved from this tiresome work. 
 
 2. It would prevent almost all the expense of learning to read well, the 
 whole English language ; for, after the alphabet shall be well learned, the 
 letters would always invariably suggest the proper sounds. Speed would 
 
Doc. No. 126. 7 
 
 be acquired of course by use and habit; and accent, emphasis, and inflec- 
 tions, would all be natural, as in common speaking, provided what is read 
 be previously understood by the learner or practitioner ; and none other 
 should ever be read vocally, and cannot be, without damage in the impor- 
 tant art of reading. 
 
 3. This proposed reformation would save about one-third of the usual 
 expense of learning chirography, or the art of writing ; for the capital 
 and small letters, though of different size, are exactly of the same form. 
 From these three sources, all combined, there will, I think, arise a saving 
 of three years in a good primary education, and of four, when a classic and 
 professional one is included. What an immense object this would be for 
 the rising generations, especially of republican citizens! It would indeed 
 nearly double the worth of time in childhood and early youth. 
 
 4. It would render common learning much more pleasant and captiva- 
 ting to children ; for, what was before uninteresting and hard, is banished, 
 and all things are now made simple and easy ; consequently the progress 
 would be rapid and delightful. 
 
 *5. It would, with proper books, render parents, in general, after they 
 shall have learned the reformed alphabet, at once, the competent teachers 
 of their own children, at home, in almost the whole of what has been con- 
 sidered a good common literary education ; thus preventing most of the 
 expense, the sufferings, the dangers, the viciousness, and the many enor- 
 mous evils of the common schools. Had I time, I should like to dwell 
 on this very important matter, and explain and illustrate at large all 
 things therein. But I cannot now. 
 
 6. It would, by its sure consequences, add much to the health, promise, 
 comfort, safety and happiness of children ; a matter, indeed, which all 
 parents and philanthropists should duly appreciate, and earnestly seek for. 
 To show this in detail would take too much time for the present. 
 
 7. It would, in fine, contribute much towards a thing greatly to be de- 
 sired, especially in all states or nations of republican government and free 
 institutions an easily self -supporting system of general and liberal edu- 
 cation for both sexes, adequate to the probable or chosen business of Iife 9 to 
 be completed at an age between sixteen and twenty years. 
 
 I have now presented plainly before you, eight of the chief reasons for 
 the complete and speedy reformation of the writing of our excellent and 
 worthy language; which writing, or mode of representing it to the mind 
 by sight, has long been intolerable, is still growing worse and worse, is 
 a disgrace to an enlightened people, and an unseemly stain upon the fair 
 countenance of our national glory. And which of these reasons can you 
 point out as futile or weak? 
 
 The next thing I should do is, to show you the possibility and feasibleness 
 of this reformation. Some whom I respect more for their erudition than 
 for their enterprise, have spoken discouragingly on this subject. But it 
 is by no means so with all. The vast importance of the thing, however, 
 I believe is generally conceded. Although it would be a new thing in the 
 world, and a great one also, and even the greatest that was ever accom- 
 plished by human agency, and although many have failed in their attempts 
 to produce it, yet [ by no means despair; for this is beyond dispute, a 
 race, a day, and a nation of wonders. Men, especially men of our origin 
 and kindred, have not yet done their best, nor their mightiest. We are 
 HOW entering upon an age of light, peace, and improvement, such as the 
 
8 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 world has never seen ; an age to be distinguished hy boldness in concep- 
 tion, skill in planning, and success in achievement. Great and unheard of 
 things are to be devised, expected, undertaken, and accomplished. Com- 
 pared with what men might be, and what, in some/arorerf, some "golden," 
 some millenial age, they probably will be, there is now passing over the 
 stage of life and action, a mere dwarf, or wreck, of the human race. 
 
 Men can, and will, yet do more than they ever have done, and leave 
 behind them stupendous monuments of wisdom, rather than those of folly, 
 such as the ancients did in Egypt and other parts of the world. The 
 summit of human efficiency has never yet been reached. Look forward 
 with raised expectation, and the eye of faith, and behold the wise and 
 worthy wonders which shall be accomplished when war shall cease, and 
 the blessings of light, and virtue, and Christianity shall pervade the earth. 
 Why not. then, in the early stage, and incipient progress of this age of 
 philosophic, philanthropic, and Christian efficiency, and as a chief means 
 of hastening it forward -why not apprehend, attempt, and bring to 
 pass so great and so good a thing, as the conformation of our written to 
 our spoken language ? This is indeed a matter of interest and of great 
 necessity, and would be of unspeakable benefit to all the English world ; 
 but more particularly to this country of republican government, and of 
 free popular institutions. It would truly produce an Augustan age in 
 English literature, science, liberal learning, and general improvement, and 
 h.ark the present as an era of distinguished lustre. 
 
 But, after all, this is, in itself, not only a possible, but an easy work. We 
 are kept from its accomplishment, more hy cobweb, than by adamantine 
 chains. The obstructions exist more in fancy than in fact. On subjects 
 of this nature, we are too apt to startle at real or supposed difficulties, 
 and to imagine them insurmountable: We-take fright at monsters of our 
 own creating, and run from apprehended to real evils. And how long 
 must it be so? 
 
 Now to the case in hand. Let the authors, editors, and publishers of 
 books and papers so agree, or consent, and the work is done at once, and 
 done with the utmost ease! And who can say, in this age of light, skill, 
 and enterprise, that such agreement, or consent, cannot be obtained ? 
 
 Notwithstanding all the hindrances from various quarters, what immense 
 improvements and useful inventions have occurred to-blessthe world since 
 the great astronomer, Galileo, of Florence, was so cruelly persecuted 
 for his discoveries in astronomy ; since the severe punishment, even in 
 England, of the honest inventor of the first water saw- mill ; and espe- 
 cially within seventy or eighty years past. Now, shall we of this age, 
 and this country, be afraid of light and truth of investigation and pro- 
 ject of invention and experiment, for the good of the nation and of man- 
 kind ? Will you, indeed, be ready to persecute and punish the patient, 
 assiduous, and self-sacrificing modern inventor and reformer with ridicule, 
 reproach and scorn, and call him "one-idead enthusiast," < narrow- 
 minded schemer," or "Utopian projector." Let not this be the bitter 
 reward of these devoted patriots and philanthropists, especially in this 
 day and land of free and independent inquiry, and of large and liberal 
 views. In all things of this nature, let us act according to the diciates 
 of true honor and impartial justice. 
 
 But I will argue the possibility and feasibleness of this project, from 
 what has already taken place in our literature since the commencement 
 
Doc. No. 126. 9 
 
 of the last century. We have seen, in our day, considerable improve- 
 ments, alterations at least, in our written language, our style of composi- 
 tion, and some in our alphabet. Once we had but twenty-four letters, 
 and called z ezzard, and used much the long ess. I have before suggest- 
 ed, that I well remember when some letters now silent were then sounded. 
 We once had s-h-e-w for show, mu-s-i-c-k for music, fa-v-o-u-r for favor. 
 In the two last examples, though the wrong letter is retained ; yet one is 
 thrown off as useless, and that too without unbalancing the earth, or throw- 
 ing it from its orbit ! We have begun to throw off some of our verbal 
 terminations, as al from classical, and ment from advancement, and, lo! 
 even this has not clothed the nation with sackcloth, nor filled the English 
 world with lamentation, mourning and wo ! Now, why should not the 
 desirable change, hitherto so partial, superficial, and sluggish, by use of 
 proper means, like other things, become radical and rapid, and in some 
 few years be accomplished ? Let us take strong interest in this thing our- 
 selves, and by all means endeavor to create one in others, and then be 
 looking out for desirable and glorious results. But, I beg, let no people 
 of influence or authority, no parents or teachers, no friends of their coun- 
 try or of mankind, discourage or hinder this so great, so necessary and 
 so benevolent a work. 
 
 However, after all, the grand preliminary to a general reception of a 
 plan for this reformation is, that by its general merits, it be found worthy 
 of adoption, and that this worthiness be extensively promulgated and known. 
 Let tbis suggestion call to my aid, from any ladies or gentlemen of litera- 
 ture and beneficence, such helps in this arduous work as they may be able 
 freely to contribute, that a plan for reformation be soon brought as near 
 as possible to perfection, and circulated over the nation, and among all 
 people who use our language. 
 
 I will now give you some remarks preliminary to a reformed alphabet 
 and orthography. 
 
 After long and close attention to this whole matter, I am now disposed 
 to give my present, though imperfect views of the subject, concluding that 
 I shall not, very soon, be able to bring it much nearer to perfection with- 
 out help from others. 
 
 I have placed in succession, and according to my ideas of the best order, 
 forty letters, twenty-two old, and eighteen new ones, each appropriated to 
 its own peculiar primary sound, and to that alone. The first division of 
 these is into sixteen vowels, (each subject to different degrees, and some 
 slight "variation of its own peculiar sound,) and twenty-four consonants of 
 different kinds. These letters are subdivided into seven different sorts, to 
 be noticed in the recital, and all represent simple sounds, except five, i, j, 
 r, w, and y, which represent their own peculiar sounds, inseparably com- 
 bined with another sound, which is marked by another letter. 
 
 Whenever the sound of y comes before u, long or short, y should be 
 invariably placed before ilt, as in yule, young, and then these sounds of u 
 would be always both simple and uniform. 
 
 I exemplify no sounds but purely English, or such as have become fully 
 Anglicized, although some are still, in the old orthography, found in their 
 ancient or foreign costumes. 
 
 The forms of the letters, in both writing and printing, should be kept 
 as near alike as the nature of the case will allow. This would give great 
 
10 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 facility in learning the art of writing, and in reading that which is writ- 
 ten by others. 
 
 The vowels are exactly the same in name and signification. The con- 
 sonants are brought as near this rule as their vocal names allow. 
 
 It is very convenient and philosophical to appropriate two names, one 
 initial, and the other final, to eacli of those twenty consonants, which are 
 used sometimes before, and sometimes after, the syllabic vowel sound. 
 This would give ease to the apprehension of the sound by the mind, and 
 the utterance of it by the organs of speech, as le el in the word le-u-el ; 
 ne en, as ne-u-en, &c. Note. When r begins a syllable, it should be 
 called re ; in every other situation, it should be called ur. 
 
 In writing, the unpleasant and embarrassing business of dotting the ies 
 and jays, crossing the tees and placing the apostrophes, is here all pre- 
 vented. 
 
 In giving the significations of the vowels by the use of the old alphabet 
 ami orthography, I do not introduce any improper diphthongs or triph- 
 thongs, except in cases where it is doubtful which vowel -in a syllable 
 bears the sound intended, or whether the whole together bears it, as eau 
 in beau, ew in sew, oo in boot, on in tour. 
 
 The real sound of a is not affected by being followed by r. Its sound 
 till it overtakes that of r, is exactly the same in hare as in hat, and the 
 same in palm as in part. All the seeming difference between the sound 
 of a in barely, and a in barrel, arises from the difference in the sound of r 
 in the two words. 
 
 There are in oral communication many small variations of vowel sounds, 
 caused either by careless use, or by different degrees of voice, or by con- 
 nexion with other letters, which are not of sufficient importance or sta- 
 bility to pay for marking. I therefore allow them to take their natural 
 course and destiny in pronunciation, rather than multiply letters. 
 
 Our immense number of diphthongs and triphthongs, which appear in 
 writing, are now all reduced to single sounds, except three, oi and oi/, as 
 in boil, boy ; ou and ow<, as in thou, now ; and ay, pronounced ae, meaning 
 yes. We have now no triphthongal sounds of real sounded vowels ; uoi 
 in quoit, seems like one ; but the u in this case is a consonant, having 
 exactly the power of w as in w ait. 
 
 There are so many words embracing o as in note, a as in part, and o 
 as in prove, each lightened and cut short with an implied aspirate, or with 
 a consonant, as in oh! ah! wolf, that I am obliged to appropriate to each 
 of these three sounds a distinct letter. 
 
 For the present the old tee may be used in printing ; but, in writing, I 
 would, for convenience, use the same body with a turn and cross at the bot- 
 tom, and no cross at the top. 
 
 (J To avoid extra expense in the first printing of my forty letters and 
 Jive characters, I have been driven to various expedients, such as inverting 
 some of the old letters, using some of the former capitals, and borrowing 
 some of the Arabic numerals. But let it be particularly noticed, that in 
 case this project succeed, or give fair promise of it, these twenty-one bor- 
 rowed forms, or such of them as are not pleasant or convenient, should be 
 displaced by new letters, the most pleasant and convenient that can be de- 
 vised, and then formed from new type-moulds. 
 
 To make every important matter very plain, I have put down the names 
 
Doc. No. 126. 
 
 11 
 
 of the letters and the significations, or the different modes of expression 
 in the old orthography, for which each letter is now made to stand, all in 
 the use of the formei- writing of our language. The old ies And jays have 
 no dots. 
 
 Tlie first subdivision of the forty letters embraces eight vowals the most vocal, 
 
 or sounding. 
 
 Forms and 
 Names. 
 
 Significations, or different methods 
 of expressing each sound. 
 
 Number of methods 
 of expressing each 
 primary sound. 
 
 d a. awe. This letter stands for a in hall ; and o in storm, 
 
 1? u. a a in part, palm ; aa in haa, 
 
 f a in hate ; ay in say ; first e in the contracts e'er, 
 tt a. a < ne'er ; ei in eight ; ey in they ; first i in possibility ; 
 ( y in analysis, - - 
 
 Oo. 6- 
 
 o in note ; oo in floor ; au in hauthoy ; eau in beau ; 
 ew in sew, ... - 
 
 u. u, (not yii] u in duke ; w in new ; eo in feodal, - 
 
 C i in pine ; y in try. It has a peculiar primary sound 
 i. Ie < of its own, terminating on a light sound of e as in 
 ( mete, - 
 
 r e in mere ; ee in cheer ; i in shire ; y in duty; ey in 
 
 e. ee < key ; ei in seize ; ie in siege ; ay in quay, (a wharf ;) 
 
 ' se in aegis ; oe in oesophagus ; ia in parliament, - 
 
 p ^ C o in prove ; oo in soon ; ou in soup ; oeu in manoeu- 
 
 <j vre ; u in rule ; w in screw, - 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 38 
 
 The second subdivision includes eight vowels, the least vocal. 
 A A. oh. This letter stands for o in stone, throat, oh! spoken, 
 
 q. oh o in not ; a in watch ; first e in envelope, (a cover,) 
 
 7, 
 
 oh o in wolf; u in pull; oo in book; on in should, 
 
 -. ah a in aha, sirrah, ah! first a in Adam, - 
 
 C a in hare, hat; e in there ; ey in eyry ; aa in Aaron ; 
 v. ah. ^ e j ; n ne j r> ^ an inheritor,) - 
 
12 
 
 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 Forms and 
 Names. 
 
 Significations, or different methods 
 of expressing each sound. 
 
 9. uh 
 
 4 
 
 . eh 
 
 4. ih-- 
 
 This letter stands for e in her ; i in sir ; 
 
 in done ; first a in exhilarate ; ah in Jonah ; ai in 
 Britain ; ia in elysian ; aa in Isaac : ei in foreign ; 
 eo in sturgeon ; io in region ; oo in flood ; oa in cup- 
 
 I board ; oe in does ; on in young ; y in satyr; the first 
 I sound of r in our ; of m in spasm ; ie in grazier ; 
 Lea in pearl; eu in messieurs; ue in guerdon, 
 
 "e in met ; ea in dread ; ei in heifer ; a in any ; se 
 
 in diaeresis ; ai in said ; i in equity ; ie in friend ; 
 
 ay in says ; 03 in asafoetida ; oi in connoisseur ; 
 
 u in bury ; y in many ; ey in valley, 
 
 1 in pin ; ie in sieve ; a in courage ; ai in certain ; 
 e in pretty ; ee in been ; o in women ; ia in mar- 
 riage ; y in lynx ; u in busy ; eo in pigeon, 
 
 Number of methods 
 of expressing each 
 primary sound. 
 
 u in duck ; 
 
 23 
 
 14 
 
 11 
 
 The whole discovered number of methods of expressing our sixteen vowel 
 sounds, is 100. 
 
 The third subdivision of the letters contains four consonants, catted semi-vowels, 
 because each sometimes forms a syllable. Note. Both initial and final names, 
 for reasons before stated, are used for the twenty following letters : 
 
 i 
 
 1. Ie el. This letter stands for 1 in lull, little, 
 
 m 
 
 m. me ,em, m in mimic, spasm. 
 
 U n. ne en, n in nun ; mp in comptroller, 
 
 fr in roar, centre; ur bur; er in terse; ir in 
 I mirth ; ar in polar ; or in manor ; lo in colo- 
 
 rl nel ; misplaced in iron, apron. Its own pecu- 
 r. re ur <j liar long vocal consonant sound is always 
 I united with u as in duck, more or less, from 
 the least possible degree, as in rinse, up to a 
 L.full syllable, as in flour. 
 
 8 
 12 
 
 The fourth subdivision consists of thirteen common consonants. 
 
 be eb. This letter stands for b in babe; p in cupboard, 
 
 d. de ed, d in dread, did, duty, - 
 
Doc. No. 126. 
 
 13 
 
 Forms and 
 Names. 
 
 Significations, or different methods 
 of expressing each sound. 
 
 Number of methods 
 of expressing each 
 primary sound. 
 
 ~ P This letter stands for f in fife; ph in phlegm; 
 et - gh in cough, - 
 
 g 
 
 fg in gem; j in just ; dg in edge; di in sol- 
 
 e-e eze _ J dier > d in S ra d ual - This sound is pri- 
 j mary, but not simple, always beginning 
 the sound of d, 
 
 s . S e es, s in sense ; c in peace, - 
 
 V v. ve ev, v in valve; fin of; ph in Stephen, 
 
 Z z. ze ez, z in zone ; s in praise ; c in suffice ; x in xebec, 
 
 fch in church; tch in thatch ; ti in question ; t 
 
 O " ~ i _J or t e * n righteous ; z in zechine ; t at the 
 
 ^ c. die- -<^ en( j Q f an accen t e( i syllable before short u, 
 
 [_as in nature, creature, picture, feature, 
 
 "[ i, the eth, th in thou, there, breathe, 
 " fsh in shine ; s in sure ; ssi in passion ; ci 
 
 j in gracious ; sci in conscious ; c in enun- 
 
 qq. she esh <j ciate ; ti in motion ; second t in substan- 
 | tiate ; ce in ocean ; ch in chaise ; si in 
 ^tension, 
 
 R R. the eth, th in thick, strength, breath, 
 
 A; k " - i V z in azure ; s in pleasure ; si in hosier ; 
 ""I ti in transition, - 
 
 J~T "T 
 j. g6 eg, g in gig, get, frog, - 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 44 
 
 The fifth subdivision comprehends three mutes, which suddenly open or stop the 
 
 voice. 
 
 . CThis letter stands for k in kick; c in cat; 
 
 k. ke ek . g n j n i 10U g U . Q^ i n chord, 
 
 p in prop ; gh in hiccough ; If in half- 
 
 P 
 p. pe - -ep 
 
 L t. te et, t in trot ; d in chopped, - 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 10 
 
14 
 
 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 Forms and 
 Names. 
 
 w. we 
 
 Significations, or different methods 
 of expressing each sound. 
 
 In the sixth subdivision of letters there are three initials, used only before 
 the syllabic vowel sound, and, of course, have but one name each. 
 
 Number of methods 
 of expressing each 
 primary sound. 
 
 This letter stands for w in what, swamp, wa- 
 ter ; u in quote ; o in choir ; the first sound of o 
 in one. It has its own peculiar light consonant 
 sound, in different degrees, according to its diffe- 
 rent connexions, united with different degrees of 
 the vowel sound of o in wolf, or u in pull, 
 
 f y in yarn ; i in union ; e in ewe ; j in hallelujah ; 
 the first sound of u in use ; of short u in volume ; 
 ye < of short e in vignette ; and of the second i in fa- 
 miliarity. It has a peculiar lightish consonant 
 
 (^ sound, ending with a light sound of e in mete, - 9 
 
 h in hot, when. It requires no particular posi- 
 tion of the organs of speech ; but a strong expi- 
 ration of air only. Hence, at first trial, it seems 
 
 h. he ^ to be almost involved in some other primary 
 
 sounds, especially those which have considerable 
 of the aspirate. This has probably led some to 
 mistake wh for a simple sound, and to think that 
 Jhe sound of the h comes before that of w in when. 
 
 13 
 
 The seventh subdivision has but one letter, and that is a final, used only 
 after the syllabic vowel sound. It has, of course, but one name. 
 
 O 3. 
 
 eng 
 ' 
 
 5 This 
 finger 
 
 stands for ng in prong ; n in flank, 
 
 Note. The other sound, before mentioned as coming into existence, is 
 also ajinal. But I think it not yet used enough to demand for itself a 
 letter. 
 
 The different discovered methods of expressing the sounds of the 
 
 twenty-four consonants, - 8 1 
 
 The different discovered methods of expressing the sounds of the 
 
 sixteen vowels, - - - - . - 100 
 
 The different discovered methods of expressing all our forty pri- 
 mary sounds, - - .'-. -181 
 Subtract the whole necessary number of such methods, - 40 
 
 This shows the number of the redundant and useless methods to be, 141 
 
Doc. No. 126. 15 
 
 Some special means for saving labor in reading, writing, and printing. 
 
 1. Five characters, each to be used instead of two or more letters; the 
 old character & for a-n-d ; 8 for ou and ow; 9 for oi and oy : x for ks; 
 6 for gz. 
 
 2. The most obscure sounds of the vowels, together witli e as in met, 
 when placed between consonants, and u as in duck, when placed before r, 
 need not be expressed at all, being necessarily implied ; as b-t-r ; up-1 n-d ; 
 q-8-r, &c. 
 
 3. When the sound of the vocal name of a consonant is the same as 
 that of a word, let the said consonant be used for the word ; as the letter 
 b for the word be; i ic ; w we; h he, &c. 
 
 4. Abbreviations of whole words; as nt for nqt; wt whqt, v av ; 
 f far ; fr frqm ; 4 4n ? it wt ; we wh4c; u yu ; yr yur ; ir lar; 
 z h4z; f hf; fz hfz ; fm hfm ; if irfor ; wh whz?r ; wf whur- 
 for ; w ivr ; me mac ; mr mor ; mst most ; wz waz ; m m ; r 
 ur; bn b4n ; nr nar ; hv \wv ; hd hwd ; hz \wz ; w[ w4l ; qj 
 ql ; qd q7d ; kd k7d ; wd w7d ; k kvn ; 8 8r ; a as ; sc sac ; 
 is i4s ; wn whn ; iz jez ; hz h4z ; hm Ii4m. 
 
 5. Abbreviations of the fore parts of words ; as nr 4ntr ; kn kqn ; 
 km kqm ; ds d4s ; sb sab ; sr supr ; ts trans ; ms m4s ; x 
 sks; 6 sjz. 
 
 Observations naturally subsequent to the preceding alphabet. 
 
 1. It furnishes the materials for a fair, full, exact, and simple represen- 
 tation of our spoken language, as far as the nature of the case, and due 
 facility and speed in writing, will permit. This is all that can be rea- 
 sonably required of an alphabet. 
 
 2. I will here place the eighteen new letters, with their names and sig- 
 nifications, by themselves, for convenience in learning them, as 
 
 a awe as in hal hall. T& a as in p^rt part. I 66 as in 
 
 p r (V prove. A oh as in stAn stone. O ah as in uhft ana - 
 q_6h as in pqt pot. t? ah as in hot hat. 7 oh as in w7lf 
 
 wo lf. 9 uh as in dak duck. eh as in pst pet. 4 ih as 
 in p4n pin. C che ech as in crc church. I the eth as in 
 18 thou, i4ir thither. (J she esh as in qm shine. JX /ie 
 eth as in brR breath. A zhe ezh as in trir treasure. J ge 
 
 Q T 
 
 eg as in j4j gig. O eng as in saS song. 
 
 [jvrote 1. To learn all that is contained in the above eight lines is all 
 that is necessary in order to read and write in the use of the reformed al- 
 phabet. 2. All the old twenty-two available letters should be printed 
 just as they have been, except the dots of the ies and jays.] 
 
 3. Any additional elementary sounds which shall hereafter be discovered, 
 distinguished, and defined, by any who use English, or any that shall be 
 adopted from abroad, should not, as heretofore, be put upon letters already 
 
16 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 existing and appropriated ; but each, of sufficient consequence, should he 
 marked by a distinct additional letter. This would prevent most of the 
 evils now complained of, and their recurrence in time to come. 
 
 4. We have many words similar in orthography, but dissimilar in 
 sound and signification. This great evil would be annihilated in this 
 projected reformation, by conforming the spelling to the sound; as the 
 letters s-1-o-u-g-h are sometimes pronounced 6-J8, and then they mean a 
 miry place; and sometimes sbf, and then they mean the cast-off skin of 
 a serpent ; also the letters b-a-s-s are pronounced &BS, and then they mean 
 a kind of fish ; sometimes bas, and then they mean a part in music ; and 
 sometimes bus, and then they mean a mat, &tc. You now see how this 
 evil is cured. 
 
 5. This reformation would tend greatly, as far as adopted, to promote 
 uniformity in pronunciation- a thing very desirable, its exactness in 
 representing the proper sounds of the words, and its uniformity of spell- 
 ing, would always tend to this effect. 
 
 6. For sake of ease and pleasantness of sound, most of the unaccented 
 vowels are slowly amalgamating with short i, e, and u 9 especially the lat- 
 ter. This, I conclude, is the reason why there have become so many dif- 
 ferent methods of expressing these sounds the first, eleven ; the second, 
 fourteen ; and the third, twenty-three. 
 
 7. It would be both patriotic and wise for the men of letters in Great 
 Britain and this country no longer to be endeavoring to Gallicize, Ger- 
 manize, Latinize, Hellenize, or Hebraize, our language ; but, by every 
 means, to Anglicize it, and add to its symmetry, euphony, compactness, 
 and distinctive nationality. 
 
 8. It is probably the fact, that additional primary sounds begin at first 
 slowly to appear among the illiterate in some rough uncouth interjections. 
 After a lapse of time, many of these become nouns, and obtain their various 
 attributes, definitives, and connectives, and finally acquire a respectable 
 standing in language. Thus, the primary sound of the Hebrews and other 
 orientals, ah, or a moderate sound of a as in part, broken off suddenly with 
 an aspirate or a consonant, as in ah! pass, is taking its place, though a 
 very modest one, in our language, appearing in many interjections, and 
 in some other words, and does therefore justly deserve to be marked by its 
 own distinct letter, which I have given it. The case is similar with re- 
 gard to o as in oh! stone, spoken, which I have also accommodated with a 
 letter. Thus, my number of letters has been increased beyond my origi- 
 nal design. 
 
 9. I take it as a granted doctrine, that the whole legitimate object of 
 alphabetic writing is to represent to the sight, as accurately and as simply 
 as possible, the sounds of spoken words. Hence the written language 
 should always be seeking conformity to the spoken, rather than the 
 spoken to the written. This would entirely prevent all future disagree- 
 ment between our orthography and our orthoepy, and more fully repre- 
 sent the epistolary writer's living and known sounds and tones used in 
 his common conversation. But let all the elocutionary authorities and 
 influences in our country, and other countries using English; let all the 
 public speakers, and the authors and publishers of standard works, con- 
 stantly use their endeavors to promote uniformity in pronunciation, and 
 of course, on this plan, uniformity of orthography also, wherever our lan- 
 guage is used. 
 
Doc. No. 126. 17 
 
 10. Possibly this reformed alphabet might be easily applied to help 
 much against the great calamity of our having many words similar in 
 sound, but dissimilar in orthography and meaning, and that by forming 
 and fixing a very slight variation of sound by which the words might be 
 audibly distinguished ; thus, tf for t-o-o, tu for t-w-o, to for t-o ; ir for 
 t-h-e-i-r, n?r for t-h-e-r-e ; al for a-i-1, nl for a-l-e ; il for i-s-l-e ; igl for 
 a-i-s-1-e, &c. However, on this very important matter, I do not decide. 
 
 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 
 
 Written languages have generally originated among people in a greater 
 or less degree unimproved, and are therefore liable to great imperfection. 
 Hence they do, like other things, however difficult, after a nation have be- 
 come far advanced in civilization, demand great alterations for the better. 
 This argument is available with regard to every other concern of human 
 society ; why not, then, to this ? The change herein proposed would be a 
 very cheap and efficient instrument to urge forward our public interests 
 and honor. What dire calamities are we still enduring by means of the 
 leprous productions of the dark or almost barbarous ages, which are now 
 ponderous clogs indeed to our characteristic enterprise and energy. How 
 long shall they remain for our grievous national injury and shame ? Have 
 we not in us yet some Saxon, some British blood ? some American coun- 
 sel, skill, and independence ? some Yankee ingenuity and force, that we 
 may speedily demolish, or whittle Away, these sore evils, entailed on us by 
 our honored, though remote and unprivileged, ancestors ? Then, let the 
 whole be stirring in us, and among us, till there shall result an achieve- 
 ment and a glory such as the world has never seen. Ay, indeed, it is 
 high time this grand affair were accomplished, or well in progress ; for 
 truly it should be done, it must be done, yea, moreover, it will be done 9 
 if our combined enterprise and courage, skill arid energy, say so. 
 
 Though it seems that I might stop here with this general answer to all 
 objections, yet I will come down to some particulars, and use further 
 endeavors to pacify the objector's feelings. 
 
 1. "It will obstruct the privilege of future etymological research." 
 I answer: Perhaps not one in ten thousand would ever have occasion for 
 this. Persons acquainted with other languages might recognise our words 
 of foreign origin about as readily from their sound and English meaning, 
 united, as from their dress. But, after all, the chief object of speakers 
 and writers, philologists and lexicographers, should be to know the pre- 
 sent English or American vernacular meaning of words, irrespective 
 of origin or derivation. Besides, the native orthography of all foreign 
 words, the originals of our words derived from other languages, and 
 the old orthography of all our own words, as far and as long as necessary, 
 might easily be placed in some of our dictionaries, or all of them, for 
 needed accommodation ; and all this, on the reformed method, would not 
 make them so large as they are now. 
 
 2. " The books already in existence would become useless." Answer: 
 1. None valuable need be lost, and for the loss ef the rest no one should 
 mourn. 2, Both alphabets might be learned while the change is form- 
 ing ; thus all, for a necessary term, might be able to read and write in 
 
18 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 either. 3. For consulting ancient records, or other fortuitous occasions, 
 the old could be learned in times to come as easily as in times past. 4. All 
 books worthy of it would be, in due season, reprinted in the new dress, 
 and could be afforded cheaper than now. 
 
 3. "Authors, publishers and booksellers would suffer loss in old stock." 
 Answer: The change might be, and doubtless would be, regulated by these, 
 and be so gradual as would give fair opportunity to dispose of old stock, 
 and close that mode of the manufacture. Besides, the diminution in the 
 expense of printing, and the natural rise of books in proportion to this 
 diminished expense, would probably more than cancel all loss, even that 
 in stereotype plates. The loss in moveable types would be trifling ; for 
 the old capitals would be disused, the twenty-six old common letters 
 would still be employed, and, for the present, no new matrices need be 
 formed for any of the forty letters, or five characters, except the expul- 
 sion of the dots from the ies andjai/s, 
 
 4. " The old hard, dry, tiresome methods of primary learning tend to 
 discipline the mind and improve its faculties, especially the memory." 
 Answer : But the easy, pleasant, and interesting substituted learning, 
 all profitable in itself, would surely do much more towards this very im- 
 portant object. This is the dictate of nature, reason, common sense, and 
 experience. Besides, the success of this project would doubtless produce 
 a great and blessed revolution in the affairs of common early education, 
 and cause the time, character, and abilities of children to be worth more at 
 twelve years of age than they usually have been at sixteen. There is, in 
 truth, something more agreeable and useful for children to learn and to 
 do than to be, for years of their precious time, toiling, and delving, and 
 plodding in most distressing and ruinous confinement at the strange and 
 dreadful old alphabet and orthography, even if it were nothing but giving 
 names to stones in the wall, or the trees in a grove, and committing them 
 to memory ! Now I should not think that any would again make this 
 objection. 
 
 5. " All readers and writers must relearn to read and write." Answer: 
 The expense and inconvenience of change have, in this plan, been avoided 
 as much as possible ; and I have no doubt, and that from actual experiment, 
 that good readers and writers in the old would learn to read and write in 
 this, with proper assistance, though slowly at first, in less than six hours. 
 Dexterity and speed would, of course, be acquired by use arid habit. Let 
 none, then, be greatly troubled any more on this score ; for it is no great 
 affair to learn the forms and uses of eighteen new letters when the sounds 
 are already familiar. I trust that this mighty objection will now no more 
 be urged by people of sense and wisdom. 
 
 6. " Children, by much help and stimulating, usually get over, some- 
 how, the chief difficulties in the old literature before they arrive at the 
 proper age for criticising these matters, and soon forgetting, very much, 
 their former toils and sufferings, their prejudices become strong in favor 
 of the old written language." Answer: Apply this argument success- 
 fully to all subjects, and there is an end, at once, to all improvements. 
 We have already been governed quite too long by the prepossessions, the 
 early notions and whims of childhood, and the imperious and senseless 
 customs and authority of the semi-benighted by-gone ages. But full- 
 grown men of the present eventful and improving age, and of this free 
 and enlightened country, should deliver themselves of childish and half- 
 
Doc. No. 126. 19 
 
 barbarian trammels, and dare to search, and think, and speak, and act 
 also, for removing the immense evils that enwrap our precious, extend- 
 ing, and improving literature, and that deprive it of more than half its 
 value. 
 
 During how many more years, ages, and generations, must the enter- 
 prising posterity of the brave settlers ef this country, indeed our own dear 
 children, be unnecessarily subject, in their ductile and forming age, to the 
 cruel labor, the tormenting vexation, and the tiresome, stupifying, and 
 deleterious confinement, imposed on them, as it was on us, before days of 
 maturity and independent inquiry ; and all that, too, by blind attachment 
 to the awkward, ugly, indecent, clownish, cumbrous, hideous dress of our 
 refined, polished, powerful, harmonious, and delightful language ? In the 
 name and pride of our country, and of all the English race, J do beg for 
 our admirable language a dress suited to its character and merits. Do 
 not, I entreat you, deem me sacrilegious and monstrously wicked, and de- 
 serving Heaven's vengeance, for denouncing and blaspheming that paltry, 
 shapeless old idol, the coarse and bungling manufacture of partly-civilized 
 people, long ago passed away and gone ; although it did, at vast pains and 
 expense, receive your obedient devotions some four or five years of your 
 otherwise brilliant and promising childhood and youth. 
 
 Had a longer, a happier, and a more productive course of natural, plain, 
 interesting, and useful oral instructions been generally used with children, 
 and had they not been put to artificial literature till able to investigate 
 for themselves, this needed reformation would, long ago, have been ac- 
 complished, and that, too, easily and freely, without rub and tug and 
 strife. 
 
 Allow me here for a moment, like a true American, and a son of "the 
 old Bay State," the centre of New England energy, independence and 
 glory, and with the intrepidity of a patriot, philanthropist and Christian, 
 to attack some of our old educational customs, as our honored fathers did 
 those of the long-continued religious oppression and civil tyranny. And 
 we will rejoice that the conflict may be prosecuted and victory won, with- 
 out shedding blood, and multiplying widows arid orphans. 
 
 Quite too early in the life of our young, active, social, imitative fel- 
 low-beings, have we dropped, if we ever began, free and pleasing oral, 
 model, and sample instructions, administered kindly, simply, and inciden- 
 tally by affectionate parents, or assistant parents, and shut them up in 
 schools, and confined them to artificial literature. In this, truly, we have 
 exactly reversed the just order of things. We should have begun with 
 nature and ended with art ; or, in other words, we should, in the great 
 concerns of education, have more obediently, faithfully, and entirely, 
 followed nature's dictates, from the first dawn of physical, sensitive, 
 intellectual, and moral existence, and should have continued thus to do, 
 admitting art incipiently and occasionally to assist nature in her wise, 
 beneficent, and godlike operations. 
 
 Thoroughly reform our written language, and then learning to read, 
 spell, and write, would be so easy that formal schools and set lessons in 
 sore and ruinous confinement, would be totally unnecessary. If the pre- 
 vious education be right, these valuable accomplishments would, in pro- 
 per season, be sought after, and obtained incidentally, like other kinds of 
 every-day business, as the farmer* 's son learns to reap, and his daughter to 
 sweep. You may, therefore, safely let artificial literature alone, till chil- 
 
20 Doc. No. 126. 
 
 dren shall have arrived at some age and maturity ; and even then you 
 need not hurry or press them forward in it, provided, however, that they, 
 as much as possible, under the care of parents, or assistant parents, their 
 natural guardians and teachers, have their time properly divided between 
 interesting, free, and safe recreations, proper manual labors, and a good 
 system of oral, model, and sample instructions, advancing spontaneously 
 and delightfully towards artificial literature, and into it, as they approach 
 adult years. Let these be the natural tendencies, and these the sure results 
 of any new or improved system of a general primary education, and then 
 do what you please with the old common schools ; only do not, at such vast 
 expense, privation and suffering, allow them to stun, and stunt, and stu- 
 pify, and stagnate, and stultify, our dear, affectionate, sprightly, and 
 promising children. 
 
 I rejoice that the people of this country, the cradle of civil, literary, 
 educational, and religious light and liberty, are waking up, though slowly, 
 to this vastly important object, and beginning to discover their errors, and 
 the natural and effectual remedies. This, I trust, in its onward progress, 
 will contribute much towards the general improvement and happiness of 
 the rising generations, and much also towards the radical, thorough and 
 timely reform of the external dress, and the ocular representation of our 
 worthy and delightful language. 
 
 I will now, for exercise, demonstration, and comparison, lay down a few 
 sentences in both the old and the new forms. 
 
 1. Old. A good neighborhood is like a little heaven below ; who, then, will 
 not try much to make his own such ? No. of letters, 81. 
 
 "HU. ttj7d nabrhZd 4z hk a l4tl hvn belo ; hf in w4l nqt tn moc ta 
 mak h4z on sac? IKambr av Itrz, 59. 
 
 2. Old. Providence, though it frowns now, yet it may smile at length, 
 with the tender of most precious gifts. 83. 
 
 "Hi*, prqvedns, 10 4t frSnz n8, yt 4t ma smil vt l3R, w4i i tndr av 
 most prqas j4fts. 60. 
 
 3. Old. Young people should always be willing to follow good coun- 
 sel. 54. 
 
 "Hit. Va3 P e pl q?d alwaz b w4l43 ta fqlo j7d kSnsl 37. 
 
 4. Old. Without delay send the news throughout the country. 46. 
 "flu. W4i8t dela snd i nuz RrfSt i kantr4 29. 
 
 5. Old. Good boys will honor their parents and love each other. 48. 
 " flu. U& b9z w4l qnr ir pwrnts & lav ec air. 31. 
 
 6. Old. Joseph, spell the word though. Tee-aitch-o-you-gee-aitch. Spell 
 wish. Doubleyou-ie-ess-aitch. Spell through. Tee-aitch-ar-o-you-gee- 
 aitch. Spell when. Doubleyou-aitch-ee-en. Spell cough. See-o-you- 
 gee-aitch. 161. 
 
 |j M> g*ozf, spl i wrd w. Ie-o. Splw4. W e -4-sq Spl/?r Re-ar-f. 
 
 Spl whn. We-he-m Spl kaf. ke-a-sf. 63. 
 
Doc. No. 126, 21 
 
 7. Old. We should receive the truths of nature, reason, and revelation 
 into good and honest hearts. 77. 
 
 " Hu. W qf d resev i trfRs ov nacr, rezn, & rvlaqan, 4nta j7d & qnst 
 hurts. 52. 
 
 8. 0W. Good morning, neighbor Clough. "Well then, you too are dri- 
 ving your two cows to their good mountain pasture. 92. 
 
 "Hu. J 7( l marn4S nabr fclaf. Wl in yu tf ur driv43 yur tu k8z ta 
 ir j7d mSntn p^scr. 60. 
 
 9. Old. What could the nation do better than to reform its alphabet and 
 orthography radically ? 75. 
 
 " Hu. W^t k7d T naqan df btr ion ta refarm 4ts olfabt & aritjjraf4 
 rwl4kl4 ? 58. 
 
 10. Old. Give facility to early literature and science, and you will 
 speedily see the precious results in the general mental, moral, and social 
 elevation. 122. 
 
 "flu. J4v fas4lt4 t9 orle Utrtur & signs, & yu w41 spedle se i prqas 
 4n i griral mntal, maral, & soqal slvaqan. 84. 
 
 In these ten sentences, according to the old, there are 839 letters ; 
 according to the new 533 ; the difference 306 considerably over one-third. 
 The general average would doubtless be quite one-third without the afore- 
 said abbreviations, and with them, quite two-fifths. Now, it is here fully 
 demonstrated, that this reformation would save one-third of all the ex- 
 pense of silent reading, of all writing and printing. Is there not here, 
 then, an object worthy of serious and general consideration ? And should 
 not those who have this matter under their control feel their responsible- 
 ness to God and their country, and speedily adopt this, or a better, reform- 
 ed alphabet and orthography ? 
 
 It is to be expected that in this age of invention and improvement, there 
 would be many unavailing attempts at this reformation. But let all well- 
 disposed undertakers be comforted and encouraged by the consideration, 
 that every such attempt will probably do its share towards perfecting for 
 our language a system of writing which will finally be found worthy of 
 general adoption ; its share, also, towards proving to every enlightened 
 and liberal mind, the laboring and pressing necessity of such a reforma- 
 tion. 
 
 All herein contained is presented to excite attention and discussion, 
 criticism and correction, as an essay towards pFeparing for future adop- 
 tion all necessary improvements in the elements of our swiftly-spreading 
 literature. 
 
 After all the expense, and long and severe toil, amidst many embarrass- 
 ments, devoted to this whole concern, and after bringing it as near to what 
 it should be as I shall probably be able soon myself to do, I now freely 
 offer it to my nation, and to her mother country ; asking no greater re- 
 ward than its efficiency in advancing their physical and moral, their 
 mental and social improvement. 
 
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