Page:Under Dispute (1924).pdf/278

 by several degrees, and who had turned her knowledge to good account, could never pronounce the test word, America. One of the ablest and most influential lawyers I ever knew, a college man with an imposing library, came no nearer to success. The lady said "Armorica," as if she were speaking of ancient Brittany. The gentleman said "Amurrica," probably to make himself intelligible to the large and patriotic audiences which he addressed so frequently and so successfully. The license allowed to youth may be held accountable for such Puck's tricks as these, as well as for grammatical lapses. A superintendent of public schools in Illinois has decided on his own authority that common usage may supplant time-worn rules of speech; and that such a sentence as "It is I," being "outlawed" by common usage, need no longer be forced upon children who prefer to say "It is me."