earning of
the language. It is now the work of years for children to learn to
spell; and after all, the business is rarely accomplished. A few men,
who are bred to some business that requires constant exercise in
writing, finally learn to spell most words without hesitation; but most
people remain all their lives imperfect masters of spelling, and liable
to make mistakes whenever they take up a pen to write a short note. Nay,
many people, even of education and fashion, never attempt to write a
letter without frequently consulting a dictionary. But with the proposed
orthography, a child would learn to spell, without trouble, in a very
short time, and the orthography being very regular, he would ever after
find it difficult to make a mistake. It would, in that case, be as
difficult to spell _wrong_ as it is now to spell _right_. Besides this
advantage, foreigners would be able to acquire the pronunciation of
English, which is now so difficult and embarrassing that they are either
wholly discouraged on the first attempt, or obliged, after many years'
labor, to rest contented with an imperfect knowledge of the subject.

"2. A correct orthography would render the pronunciation of the language
as uniform as the spelling in books. A general uniformity thro the
United States would be the event of such a reformation as I am here
recommending. All persons, of every rank, would speak with some degree
of precision and uniformity. Such a uniformity in these States is very
desirable; it would remove prejudice, and conciliate mutual affection
and respect.

"3. Such a reform would diminish the number of letters about one
sixteenth or eighteenth. This would save a page in eighteen; and a
saving of an eighteenth in the expense of books is an advantage that
should not be overlooked.

"4. But a capital advantage of this reform in these States would be,
that it would make a difference between the English orthography and the
American. This will startle those who have not attended to the subject;
but I am confident that such an event is an object of vast political
consequence. For,

"The alteration, however small, would encourage the publication of books
in our own country. It would render it, in some measure, necessary that
all books should be printed in America. The English would never copy our
orthography for their own use; and consequently the same impressions of
books would not answer for both countries. The inhabitants of the
prese