ntitled to consideration, that there are no sound arguments
against fonetic spelling to be drawn from scientific and historical
considerations."

We always forgive something to enthusiasts and reformers. They are
expected to effervesce once in a while, and when they indulge in gush
and self-appreciation it is taken as a matter of course. Whether or not
it strengthens or weakens their arguments is yet to be determined. At
any rate, the exhibit that is made of them and of their intemperance is
furnished by themselves.

There is an illogical argument for the new spelling drawn from the
published facts of illiteracy. We are told that the last national census
reports 5,658,144 persons, ten years of age and over, who cannot read
and write, and this number is said to be "one-fifth of the whole
population." The census of 1870 reports a total population of
38,558,371, and a total of illiterates, ten years of age and over, of
5,660,074, which is only 14-1/2 per cent. of the total population. This
is nearer one-seventh than one-fifth. This "one-fifth" the professor
compares with the number of illiterates in other countries in order to
bring discredit upon the English language, showing by the comparison
that there is a larger percentage of illiterates where the English
language is spoken and written than in non-English Protestant countries.
He reports illiterates in England at 33 per cent. of the population. "In
other Protestant countries of Europe they are comparatively few. In
Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway there are none to speak of; in
Germany, as a whole, they count 12 per cent., but some of the states
have none." Professor March asserts that "one of the causes of the
excessive illiteracy among the English-speaking people is the difficulty
of the English spelling;" and his argument proceeds on the assumption
that this is in fact the main cause.

Even if assent be given to the statement that the difficulty attendant
upon the acquisition of correctness in English orthography is one of the
causes of English and American illiteracy, the next step is to determine
the force and efficiency of the cause in that direction; and this
determination cannot be had on the basis of bald, unguarded and
extravagant statements such as I have cited. The illiteracy of the
American people must not be judged by the bare figures given above. The
census returns furnish data for a more just discrimination. The
statistician must not forget t