om the
instability of the principle. For the old grammarians urged, that the
scholar who had learned their rules should "strictly conform to them; and
that he should industriously avoid _that random Method of dividing by the
Ear_, which is subject to mere jumble, as it must be continually
fluctuating according to the various Dialects of different
Countries."--_British Grammar_, p. 47.

OBS. 8.--The important exercise of oral spelling is often very absurdly
conducted. In many of our schools, it may be observed that the teacher, in
giving out the words to be spelled, is not always careful to utter them
with what he knows to be their true sounds, but frequently accommodates his
pronunciation to the known or supposed ignorance of the scholar; and the
latter is still more frequently allowed to hurry through the process,
without putting the syllables together as he proceeds; and, sometimes,
without forming or distinguishing the syllables at all. Merely to pronounce
a word and then name its letters, is an exceedingly imperfect mode of
spelling; a mode in which far more is lost in respect to accuracy of
speech, than is gained in respect to time. The syllables should not only be
distinctly formed and pronounced, but pronounced as they are heard in the
whole word; and each should be successively added to the preceding
syllables, till the whole sound is formed by the reunion of all its parts.
For example: _divisibility_. The scholar should say, "Dee I, de; Vee I Ess,
viz, de-viz; I, de-viz-e; Bee I Ell, bil, de-viz-e-bil; I, de-viz-e-bil-e;
Tee Wy, te, de-viz-e-bil-e-te." Again: _chicanery_. "Cee Aitch I, she; Cee
A, ka, she-ka; En E Ar, nur, she-ka-nur; Wy, she-ka-nur-e." One of the
chief advantages of oral spelling, is its tendency to promote accuracy of
pronunciation; and this end it will reach, in proportion to the care and
skill with which it is conducted. But oral spelling should not be relied on
as the sole means of teaching orthography. It will not be found sufficient.
The method of giving out words for practical spelling on slates or paper,
or of reading something which is to be written again by the learner, is
much to be commended, as a means of exercising those scholars who are so
far advanced as to write legibly. This is called, in the schools,
_dictation_.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS IN SYLLABICATION.

LESSON I.--CONSONANTS.

1. Correct the division of the following words of two syllables: "ci-vil,