Nevertheless, American spelling makes constant gains across the water, and they more than offset the occasional fashions for English spellings on this side. Schele de Vere, in 1867, consoled himself for Webster's "arbitrarily imposed orthography" by predicting that it could be "only temporary"--that, in the long run, "North America depends exclusively on the mother-country for its models of literature." But the event has blasted this prophecy and confidence, for the English, despite their furious reluctance, have succumbed to Webster more than once. The New English Dictionary, a monumental work, shows many silent concessions, and quite as many open yieldings--for example, in the case of /ax/, which is admitted to be "better than /axe/ on every ground." Moreover, English usage tends to march ahead of it, outstripping the liberalism of its editor, Sir James A. H. Murray. In 1914, for example, Sir James was still protesting against dropping the first /e/ from /judgement/, a characteristic Americanism, but during the same year the Fowlers, in their Concise Oxford Dictionary, put /judgment/ ahead of /judgement/; and two years earlier the Authors' and Printers' Dictionary, edited by Horace Hart,[15] had dropped /judgement/ altogether. Hart is Controller of the Oxford University Press, and the Authors' and Printers' Dictionary is an authority accepted by nearly all of the great English book publishers and newspapers. Its last edition shows a great many American spellings. For example, it recommends the use of /jail/ and /jailer/ in place [Pg257] of the English /gaol/ and /gaoler/, says that /ax/ is better than /axe/, drops the final /e/ from /asphalte/ and /forme/, changes the /y/ to /i/ in /cyder/, /cypher/ and /syren/ and advocates the same change in /tyre/, drops the redundant /t/ from /nett/, changes /burthen/ to /burden/, spells /wagon/ with one /g/, prefers /fuse/ to /fuze/, and takes the /e/ out of /storey/. "Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press, Oxford," also edited by Hart (with the advice of Sir James Murray and Dr. Henry Bradley), is another very influential English authority.[16] It gives its imprimatur to /bark/ (a ship), /cipher/, /siren/, /jail/, /story/, /tire/ and /wagon/, and even advocates /kilogram/ and /omelet/. Finally, there is Cassell's English Dictionary.[17] It clings to the /-our/ and /-re/ endings and to /annexe/, /waggon/ and /cheque/, but it prefers /jail/ to /gaol/, /net/ to /nett/, /asphalt/ to /asphalte/ and /story/ to /storey/, and comes out flatly for /judgment/, /fuse/ and /siren/.