Note 1 — Chapter I · CONFESSIONS OF A SPELLING REFORMER

As this opinion of Professor Child has been questioned, I give here an extract from a letter written by him for publication, and printed in the Home Journal of New York for June 21, 1882. This paper was then engaged in gathering the opinions of scholars and men of letters on the subject of English orthography. “One of the most useful things just now,” wrote Professor Child, “is to break down the respect which a great, foolish public has for the established spelling. Some have a religious awe, and some have an earth-born passion for it. At present I don’t much care how anybody spells, so he spell different from what is established. Any particular individual spelling is likely to be more rational than the ordinary.”