At the most it might be conceded that they are partially taught to read--that is to say that they have a partial knowledge of reading; the amount being limited by the extent of their acquaintance with their native tongue. For the rest they know only a trick, which consists in turning signs into sounds. Thus the neglect of English in our elementary schools to the advantage of other subjects, most of which are entirely forgotten by the pupils in later life, imposes upon our working classes, not only _dumbness_, not only susceptibility to infection by unsound opinion and doctrine, but also the inability successfully to achieve self-education by means of reading, when once the school career is done. The question remains, are these distressing results sufficiently counterbalanced by the advantages supposed to derive from the study of other subjects? There surely can be but one answer to this question, and that is an emphatic negative. What greater asset can a man have then a sound knowledge of his native tongue? What surer safeguard could be given him against corruption, pollution, false doctrine, and inflammatory counsels? What more coveted power could he hope to acquire? And, above all, in this age of loose thinking and even looser speech, what nobler check could he have upon the vagaries of his fancy or the intemperance of his tongue? It would constitute his greatest possession, and it is the nation’s soundest policy to endow him with it. If the principle of State education be admitted at all, it is incumbent upon a people to teach its working classes to “read” before anything else, because reading in itself is at once a lofty accomplishment and the most certain means to all other accomplishments. Among the State’s foremost and ineluctable duties, therefore, is the teaching of their native tongue to the masses. For, without this, reading is an impossibility. We have seen how social disturbances--aye, and even revolutions, have been the outcome of falsely interpreting a single word; we have seen how national disillusionment and depression can arise out of the pursuit of ideals that are ultimately found to be [p141] empty, simply because the words in which they were originally framed, though capable of creating much emotional activity never had any precise meaning. We have seen, moreover, how difficult it is to ascribe any genuine significance to such popular decoy words as Justice, Equality, and Liberty, than which no words in the English language can make a stronger emotional appeal to a crowd. If these remarks have been carefully considered, can there any longer be any question concerning the most vital, the most urgent reform in our educational system? It now remains to discover what modifications would have to be made in our elementary school teaching in order to effect this reform.