The demand for "spelling reform" is based upon the assumption that the pronunciation constitutes the word--in other words, that the real word is the breath by means of which it is uttered. In the word _wished_ philologists assure us that the letters _e d_ are remains of _did_, as if it were written _did wish_; and it certainly has that sense. It is proposed to substitute _t_ for the _ed_, because, we are told by the "reformers," the _t_ represents the sound given to those two letters. Of course the _t_ stands for nothing: it does not represent any idea. It is only a character, and its pronunciation only a breath, without any significance. The new word cannot mean _did wish_. The "reformers" must contend that _wisht_ is the real word, or their position cannot be maintained for an instant. If the word still remains _wished_--"_did wish_"--though pronounced _wisht_, their proposition to conform the spelling to the pronunciation is laughable. There can be no conformation and the old words remain. Whenever a change is made in a single letter of a word, the word is broken: it is no longer the same word. The new form becomes a new word, and there can be no objection to any one giving to it any significance he chooses. In a certain sense, and also to a certain extent, letters are representative, and are not the real words. Before the arts of writing and printing were invented the sound of course constituted the representative of the idea sought to be conveyed. The invention of the arts of writing and printing brought into use other representatives of ideas. The cuneiform characters and the hieroglyphics were representatives of ideas, though there could be no pronunciation of them. Letters came into use as representatives merely. In an age of printing it is hardly correct to say that they are only used to signify sounds. They are now more than that: they have become more important than the sounds even. They are now representatives of ideas, and not of sound. Modifications of pronunciation are taking place, and there are variations in the pronunciation of many words, but the word as written and printed is the arbiter.