gression which I happen
to dislike or have not nearly observed. And yet the argument is full
of fallacies: and the very position that he assumes appears to me to
be unsound. It is well enough to record a dialect, nor will any one
grudge him credit for his observation and diligence, but to reduce a
dialect to theoretic laws and then impose those laws upon the speakers
of it is surely a monstrous step. And in this particular instance the
matter is complicated by the fact that Southern English is not truly a
natural dialect; Mr. Jones himself denotes it as P.S.P.=Public School
Pronunciation, and that we know to be very largely a social convention
dependent on fashion and education, and inasmuch as it is a product
of fashion and education it is not bound by the theoretical laws
which Mr. Jones would attribute to it; while for the same reason it is
unfortunately susceptible of being affected by them, if they should be
taught with authority. These phoneticians would abuse a false position
which they have unwarrantably created. This Southern English, this
P.S.P., is a 'fashionable' speech, fashionable that is in two senses;
and Mr. Jones would fashion it.

[Sidenote: judged by practical effects.]

But I wish to put my case practically, and, rather than argue, I would
ask what are the results of learning English on Mr. Jones' system?
What would be the condition of a man who had learnt in this way?

[Sidenote: His three styles.]

I shall assume that the pupil has learnt his pronunciation from the
dictionary, the nature of which is now known to my readers: but they
should also know that Mr. Jones recognizes and teaches three different
styles, which he calls the A, B, and C styles, 'A, the pronunciation
suitable for recitation or reading in public; B, the pronunciation
used in careful conversation, or reading aloud in private; and C, the
pronunciation used in rapid conversation.'

In a polemic against Mr. Jones his adversary has therefore to combat a
dragon with three heads, and the heroic method would be to strike all
three of them off at one blow. To effect this it seems to me that one
has only to remark that a system which is forced to teach a dialect
[a dialect, observe, not a language] in three forms where one is
sufficient, is _ipso facto_ condemned. This objection I will establish
presently; at present I am content to confine my attention to one
head, for I maintain that in practice those who will take the trouble
to