Accordingly, he suffers by comparison with others
whose vocabulary is more extensive and whose diction is, therefore, more
elegant. The consciousness of his shortcomings restricts the exuberance
of his life, and he fails of that sense of large freedom that a
knowledge of spelling would certainly give. So that even in such an
elementary study as spelling the school has an opportunity to generate
in the pupils a feeling of freedom, and this feeling is quite as
important in the scheme of life as the ability to spell correctly. In
this statement, there is no straining for effects. On the contrary, many
illustrations might be adduced to prove that it is but a plain statement
of fact. A cultured lady confesses that she is thrown into a panic
whenever she has occasion to use the word _Tuesday_ because she is never
certain of the spelling.
=The switchboard.=--Life may be likened to an extensive electric
switchboard, and only that man or woman has complete freedom who can
press the right button without hesitation or trepidation. The ignorant
man stands paralyzed in the presence of this mystery and knows not how
to proceed to evoke the correct response to his desires. It has been
said that everything is infinitely high that we cannot see over. Hence,
to the man who does not know, cube root is infinitely high and, as such,
is as far away from his comprehension as the fourth dimension or the
precession of the equinoxes.
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