nergies are so largely devoted to education--one hundred and nineteen
schools have adopted the phonetic system, I cannot but look back to the
infancy of steam, and conclude, that there must be more advantages in
that system than its opponents seem disposed to allow it to possess.

The Committee of Council on Education in England, to whom the funds
set apart for educational purposes are, intrusted, authorized the
printing of phonetic books for schools some years since; but authorizing
books without training masters to teach them, is about as useful as
putting engines into a ship, without supplying engineers to work them.
Besides which, their phonetic system was in itself confusing and
objectionable; they have also informed the public, that the system, in
various forms, is almost universally adopted in the elementary schools
of Holland, Prussia, and Germany.[AN]

I should also mention that other systems have been tried both in England
and Scotland, and that those teachers who employ them speak highly of
their advantages, especially in the latter country. I have now a paper
before me, called _The Reading Reformer_, in which I find the following
sentence, which tends to show that the system is approved of in France
in the highest quarters:--"The phonetic method of primary instruction is
used in the 5th regiment of the line, the 12th Light, the Penitentiary
of St. Germain, and the House of Correction for young prisoners. The
Minister of War has ordered that French should be taught by this method
to the young Arabs, in the three schools of Algiers, Oran, and
Philipville."

One great mistake has been made by the champions of this mode of
teaching, which is more fatal to its success, in my opinion, than any
difficulty raised by its opponents, and that is the adoption by each
champion of his own phonetic alphabet; and for which he claims a
superiority over the alphabets of others. The absurdity of this
perpetual strife must be palpable. If a Fireworshipper were to be
converted, what hopes of success would there be if a Mormonite and a
Mussulman were placed on one side of him, and a Free Kirk man and a
Jesuit on the other? The public, as regards phonetic teaching, are
precisely in that Fireworshipper's position. Reader, you must form your
own opinion: I offer none. And now, with your permission, we will quit
the region of speculation and return to sober fact.

One of the most striking buildings I visited during my stay at Bost