The Portland daily press., 1872-04-16
That Spelling -Lesson-A Shrek from
Probable Victim.

Mn EpIToR,- protest against your giving
a wider circulation to that abominable list of
words published in your paper of Saturday
could but mark the hypocritical assumption of
philanthropy with which you raised it from its
position as mere social affection, and let it,
loose on an unprepared world, assisting it to
enter on career of more general devasta-
ton. "Ah, how many did you miss, then, my
man?' you ask with grim irony. Never you
mind, sr,-nothing but fortunes shall wiring
that secret from me; and if the person who
tried on me the weapon you provided ever tells
there will be case of domestic infelicity'
such as the oldest inhabitant never dreamed OF.
Now ask you as Christian man what kind
of an English word you call candiue? Ii you
should use it while writing for your valuable
paper, would you not draw line under it, as l
have, to show that it is not only not native
citizen but that it has never been naturalized!
Persons who have read good many transia-
lions of French novels, or even good deal oi
French history, may recognize 1t as having
more familiar countenance than oltertegotssen
schaft: but the one is as much an English word
| as the other 1t is nothing to the purpose to
saw that the canaiAe have secured place III
the English dictionaries; so have the sdnscat-
lottes, and be hanged to them! And as for
"ieopardize'' it belongs neither to the English
nor to any other language. 1t is poor feeble
hybrid, made up by putting foolish Greek tail
into the Old English word leopard which
means, when used as a verb, all that leopard
ize' strives to express. When we use the lat
ter we use it at venture, as Justice Shallow
used accommodated" Quoth he:
By this day know not the word; but will
maintain it with my sword to be good soldier
like word, and word of exceeding good COM
mand. Accommodated; that is, when man is
AS they say-accommodated; or, when a. man is
being whereby he may be thought to be ac-
commOdated; which is an excellent thing.
"Jeopardize," too, is in the dictionaries, but
it is the pet aversion of the word-critics and
purists. .t.
And how could the best of us help tripping
when your trumpery list insists ON slicorice"
for iquorice . "skilfully'' for ''skillfully' and
Clarinet for ''clarionet?" Both forms of
these words have the authority of the best lex
favor of the latter! Is it fair to disturb the
peace of families in this way?
One word about "mortgaging" and my plant
is done. 1t is hard to see what difficulty there
is about spelling the participle. The cruz in
that word is in the substantive 'tmortgageor"
or 'tmortgager. Lawyers almost invariably
discard these authorized FORMS and, slaves to a
blind consistency, write the word ''mortgagor, 2
at the same time pronouncing it as if the soft
sound of the last "g" had been saved by the in
terposition of &C." CAooGRAPHER.
I'VE learn by indirection, as we had before
supposed, that the writer of the above fanatic
remonstrance came severely to grief ON account
of that list of words, as a member of his fam
ly, securing possession of the paper before him,
insisted upon spelling" him. Believing in his
own literary attainments-witht the best of rea-
son too-he confidently entered upon the task
and missed eleven words. His fury is said to
have been terrific, and found partial expression
in the above ommunication.-ED.