National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-04-09
NOT so RIDICULOUS.
Another Letter from Nf. Titus


TO the Editor of the NGtsonGI RepHbIfeGR:
SIR: had not intended publicly to say any
thing more Of orthography, especially my own;
but meeting yesterday some friends-intelllgent
gentlemen-who supposed, from Whist appeared
in your issue Of Saturday, that really did spell
ridiculous" with an re-" at their suggestion
have concluded to address you again, not, how
ever, to complain that "numscull," as Iwrote the
word, Quoting from your report in which 1t sp-
pears as the correct spelling.) was Reproduced"
as "numskull," making so much Of my criticism
meaningless and nonsensical; nor OF the omission
OF two words, making one OF my sentences ingram
NAUTICAL and another awkward, since these were
doubtless mere inadvertencies: nor that my name,
expected to be withheld, appeared IN prominent
head lines, Though unusual, certainly, If not
precedented in Newspaper practice since no one
,nCGid wrts iOr T6st ), ne Is asnamsd
pear "Tediculous" by reproducing" as &c" an
indicted 81" since l had, perhaps, provoked
even this retaliation; but Of this, think, under
the circumstances, may properly claim my right
That i omitted to dot an ST." acknowledge;
also, that, but for an effort to be particular in
this respect, should have omitted many more;
also, that 1t was error but not al unusual one,
especially with those Ta0 SsS ra9Ia TAKE
as Reproduced" by photo-lithographc process, in
the New York Graphic Of August q, 1874. The
first, fair specimen of TiltOn's habit in this re-
Fpecf is his extraordinary demand for Beecher's
resignation and exile:
~ demand that, for reasons which you explicitly
understand, you immediately cease from the min
istry Of Plymouth church, and that you quit the
city Of Brooklyn as q residence.
this of rrton Retained copy in
his own handwriting, OF the original letter five
Ills" are without dots, viz: The first in the word
"signed' and "Tilton;n while "explicItIy" has
not an "i" IN It nor dot over 1t, but is written
"explctly," which is perhaps the reason Beecher
did not "explicity understand" 1t, and called TIL
ton "crazy." Mrs Tilton, in this neglect imI-
tates, as usual, but does not equal her husband.
Beccher occasionally, and in some letters ire:
as have observed, IL lie, as 10 ridiculous, the
first 'i'' in words containing more than one.
MouitGn a9ts every put on U'e So,4 syeGy P
and crosses every IT"
Many Of these undotted ais" have much more
the appearance of"e's" than the te's" themselves.
And s6onId THE REPUBLICAN. because Of this
omission, call them les" and so reproduce"
them in print, state editorially, and the state
ment be believed it surely would inlure the
'OrthogrsUhic reputation" OF these now world
famous writers, the only reputation OF value they
appear TO have lett. But my understanding is,
that whatever q written letter may look like, 1t
really is what the writer intended 1t to be. AND
may further say land this without egotlsm IN
tended) that whether as "pedagogue," as COM
missioner Of common schools in my own State, or
as q member Of its board OF C1ucstion, in the mat,
ter of photography, II have not always dotted
my "fs,' nave generally minded them. But
enough Of this TidicaluS mus.
Ali this, however, could not destroy or divert
the force Of my criticism as to the Importance OF
giving q corr ct account of these photographic
truth-telling matches. The great and almost uni
versIl interest in them attests their Importance.
Yet the few hear them, while the many read OF
them. And that a simple, natural error is not,
by being inac7urately reported made to appear as
an unnatural and ridiculous" one, is OF c0nse
quence to the contestants and their friends; Whlef
Of any conse uuence to to know the correct
spelling Of tine words given and reported, 1t surely
is Of no less cons, quence to those who read than
to those who hear. Take single further Instance:
More than once Il Will not say in what paper or
papers, having learned from experience at least
the wisdom of caution) "irrefragible" has been
given as the correct spelling Of the word "irrefra
gable" misleading both as to its spelling and
pronunciation, since know Of no word In the
LANGUAGE IN Which g" Las its soft sound like ~
before the vowel "s.'
The Boston Journal however, Is too distant to
be dangerous; so may mention with impunity
that read not long since in that paper an &C
hall in that city, in which "fuschIa" was given
as the correct spelling Of one Of the selected
words. mere glance Of the eye, to be sure, but
in know not how many years that had seen
the word, had no doubt Of its correctness, and
thus, as by fash OF electricity, it burnt itself
into my memory. But st one Of these contests
heard the word differently and correctly sp" lied,
and this correction l regarded as worth more to
me than the price Of admission.
Newspapers are the literature Of the people;
their authority too, on nearly all subjects, ortho
gTaphy included, since We learn to spell almost
entirety from seeing words In print. And strange
as It may seem to q rejecting mind, iii no exag-
ger3tion to say that, politics eXcepted-in which
people generally believe everything on one side
and nothing on the other-newspaper statements
concerning any measure or any man, public or
private, or any matter whatever, though men,
toned as q mere rumor BY some unknown corre-
spondent or reporter, and II blazoned In flaming
headlines, even the headlines themselves are
accepted as truth by nine tenths Of those who
read them, and by many will be believed sooner
than an authorized or q personal denial or state
ment. A due consideration Of what newspaper
power and influence really are, and not mere
caTping spirit, induced my criticism.
eAR to the 0enett to be derived from these con-
tests, opinions may differ, but for myself will
say that, my attention having been thereby d.
rected to this subject In the time during the last
two weeks have been able to devote to 1t have
derived great pleasure and greater profit. Never
before did realize the value Of proper study Of
photography; how 1t trains the mind to definite
ness Of ioeS, certainty Of knowledge, repidity Of
,thought and accuracy Of statement-the great OBJ
jects to be attained by any study. Incertitude OF
from carelessness, ignorance or Indifference to
exsct truth, cause most OF the mistakes and ills
Of life, and are the foundation OF all that is su-
perhcial, worthless, and worse than worthless in
our so-called education.
The sum Of education is the truth-the simple
exact truth about any subject-be IL the most ab-
struse science or the spelling OF Q simple word;
and not only to know the truth, but to know how
way to present or illustrate 1t. That have been
'tpedaRogue" not OF scholars only, but of teach
ers also, may be the reason why regard as Of 30
much Importance things that so many others
Criticise this letter as you may think It d.
serves The only favor ask is thaC It be printed
as written, for have not only dotted every "i''
and crosse every "t" in It, but have retained q
lin the former Communication ifthe letter "e"iu
ridiculous was simply an indicted a." it was the
only 81" which Mr.. Titus failed to dot in the man
uscript Of several pages.-ED.l