Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1842-02-19
From the Hampshire Gazette.
English Orthography.

humble instrument of good in one department of
learning,
Blu, it abatcs this pleasure to find that much Of
the good have done is to be lost and that further
efforts to amend and improve the language to be un-
availing. The fist thirty years afer began to
write for our youth, 4 had no opposer ofany conse
Guencp, and my improvements were received
and sdef,ed. These hrvc been the means of
stamping some degree of unifnnny on the pronun.
citation of our language. This is visible in Con.
grcss mos. of',he members ',raring received their
elementary instruction in my books.
But within the last twenty years, have had
competitors, who have brought into market differ
ent systems, fortified with English authorities.
Walkers Dictionary, containing variety ofnse-
full criticisms, accompanied with an absolc,e or.
biography, and multitude Of fashionable dandy
isms, has been circulated in The United States, anil
'tfumpeted standard Of or,hoeyy; aud many
Spelling. Books on his plan have trcn published
and urged into schools. 'One.,hd of The STATE of
New-l otk fell under Walkers influence, and a
large part of that State and of the State Of Massa-
chusetts yet under that influence,
tBu. a few years elapsed 'cfore Walkers scheme
Of 'pronunciaiier was assailed hy British winters
His sound "i short and in eleven tn, us ,nd
syIlahlrs was condemned, and his GbIetite, GtTsr.
eefcc, was declared ,o.hc not mcrly wong. but
hfdtcyOus. After @ few years another author con.
'demned his ddja!dshun, his comp0,jtum, and lis
ingrejenf, affirming such pronunciation, in a SOL
emn discourse, intolerabie. The same author con-
demned his n0tshurai, congroiskuiQti0n, and fni.
shnlcnce; while still later writer sifrmsit To he
! rnigariiy and absurdty. Indeed, Walkers picn
'cl,sss for lentecus, 'ctycheuS for courteous, ard
Ironohoo for frontier,'is nomo'c genuine Ei gIlsh
than il is the language Of the Choctuws. Yctpro-
baby a hundred thousand children in this country
are yet instructed in this pronunciation.
One of the greatest otstSciesto the correction of
custom, or fashion, CT from the influence of British
authorities. TEc'peope Of this country are dispo-
sed to think the English understand the language
better than anv American. My researches anil my
visits 10 England have shown this 10 be a geIat mis-.
toke. Instead of b, ing in advance Of US in phiio>
ogy, they are half arcenuy behind us,, although
on other subjects they have the advantage Of Us.
ButIihno,o that the English have not thoroughly
investigated The origin and history ofIheir own Ian
guage. In Eiymo6gy not only the English and
French, tut the Germans are very far behind US.
The grca; attention to the modern sciences has
for half a century, absorbed all other subjects.
But the English have no, given to their Ian.
ruage the and study which its Importance ha,
commanded. This language is to I've used probl
bly, by more people than any other language on the
globe, and is To be the principal instrument, ofcivil
izing and evangclizing the world. In preparing
the aneuagcto be this instrument, the labor Of the
icxicogmpher arc far more imPortsn, than the Wi
tings of a Scott or Sou,hey.
Nethow surprisingly lasths language hcen cor
rupirJ! Without positive evidence before ou
eyes who could believe that the American Con
eress, or an American Legislature should maxi
such hlunder 10 write Comptroller, when the,
mean CsnfJ1lfer, and continue the use of sucl
nonsensica woIds,yeaG after year, and age of,e
age1
Who, without ,hee,idcnce Of every common Bi
ble, could believe that such abomnable blundcI'
as C,isannui and unisOse would find place II
nine passages in that bopk-woTjs expressing
sensc directly contrary to what is intonded-an
continuing uncO,recttd for more than three hun
dred years. and what is perhaps more extraod
nary intelligent men now clemerng against an
attempt to conec, such outrageous mistakes!
Who could believe that handy-,ooTk mere vu
gar mistake for ha,id.is0rk should dlsfgure tn
common version of the sacred oracles, and such a
intelligent nation as the English should blund,T
yer the nislske for centuries without discoveTin
the fact
Several other couuptions of our language mu
be omitted for the sake Of brevlty. They occur
spelling books in dictionaries grammers, and in d
writings Of the most distinguished scholars
one Of the ablcs, productions of the present age,
have recently seen the nonsenscal word disannu
for annui, in five OF six passages.
In England there seems to be not even the
ginn,ug of a reformation. On the other haI
Richards Dictionary reails the eHors OF the o
etyomologisis, many of which ave as falseto d'iu
the word hail from the word honor, or sat I've
soiuiGiion.
TocIown the wide series Of blandcrs, Mr. Bra
de, The editor Of the Dic'dn ny Of Science, Liter
rure and drt, nov in the press in London, ass 81
by nink oithe most learned msn IN Eng and, dsd
cen es'chem,ary from CoP'lc wurd slguaG'ns 'ccS