Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-06-04
Mark Twain's Address at Spelling
Match.

THERE was a spelling-match at the
Asylum Hill Congregational Church,
Hartford, Conn, the other evening, and
Mr.. Samuel L. Clemens Mark Twain),
being called on for few preliminary
remarks, spoke as follows:
''LADIEs AND GENTLEMEN Il have been
honored with the office of introducing
these approaching photographed solem-
mites with few remarks. The tenn
perance crusade swept the land some
time ago, that is, the vast portion of the
land where it is needed, but it skipped
Hartford. Now comes this new spelling
epidemic, and this time zoe are stricken.
SO ! suppose we needed the affliction.
[ don't say we needed it, for l don't see
anY use in spelling word right and
never did. l mean don't see anyuse in
having uniform and arbitrary way of
spelling words. We might as well make
all clothes alike and cook all dishesalike.
Sameness is tiresome; varietyis pleasing.
have correspondent whose letters are
always refreshment to me; there is
such breezy, unfettered originality
about his photography He always
spells Kow with large X. Now, that
is Just as good as to spell it with a small
one. 1t is better, 1t gives the imagi-
nation a broader field, wider scope. 1t
suggests to The mind grand, vague, i'm
pressive, new kind of a COW. Superb ef-
| fects can be produced by variegated spell
ing. Now, there is Blind Tom, the musical
prodigy. He always spells word ac-
cording to the sound that is carried to
his ear. And he is an enthusiast in or
biography When you give him word
he shouts it outputs all his soul into it,
once heard him called upon to spell
orang- outang before an audience. He
| ,,sI 4 nlrnF
tang, tang, orangger tangp Now
body can respect an orang' outang that
spells his name in vigorous way like
that But the feeble dictionary makes
kitten of him. In the old time people
spelled just as they pleased. That was
the right idea. You had two chances at
stranger then. You knew q strong
man from weak one by his iron-clad
spelling, and his handwriting helped
you to verify your verdict. Some peo-
pie have an idea that correct spelling can
be taught-and taught to anybody. That
is mistake. The spelling faculty is
born in man, like poetry, music and art.
1t is gift; it is talent. People swho
have this gift in high degree only need
to see word once in print and it is for
ever photographed upon their memory.
They cannot forget It, People who
haven't it must be content to spell. more
or less like-like thunder and expect to
splinter the dictionary wherever their
orthographical lightning happens to
strike. There are 114,000 words in
the unabridged dictionary. know a
, lady who can spell only 1S0 of them
right. She steers clear of all the rest.
r She can't learn any mores So herletters
} always consist of these constantly-recur-
J ring 1S0 words. Now and then, when
/ she finds herself obliged to write upon a
subject which necessitates the use ofsome
other words, she-well, sne don't write
a on that subject. have a relative in
! New York who is almost sublimely
n gifted. She can't spell any word right
: There is a game called Yerbarium. a
i dozen people are each provided with q
s sheet of paper, across the top OF Whlch Il
4 written long word like kaleldoscoplcal
y or something like that, and the game is
o to see who can make up the most words
Z out of that in three minutes, always be
n ginning with the initial letter of Tho
: word Upon one occasion the wore
chosen was coffer-dam. When time wa!
: called everybody had built from five tC
e twenty words except this young lady
a She only had one word-calf, We al
r studied moment and then said: Why
a there is no in coffer-damp Then we eX
!. amined the paper. To the eternal homo
a of that uninspired, unconscious, sub
g limely-independent soul be it said, sh'
n had spelled that word 'catfP If any
a body here can spell calf any more sen
i sibly than that, let hIm step TO the from
q and take his milk. The insurreetion vii
/. now begin"