Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-09-02
- webster Reformed photography.

.;,or in the .itsaatic Monthly gives
a-aresting account of Noah Webster's
81 lnse ~ reform the spelling of TIE En-
eno,S ,uage. 1t seems that Webster's
gLis.;i IAN first impellcd him to the work,
paaIi !, one time he wrote: : In this coun-
anu = desirable that inquiries should be
uy III opinions unshackled. North
IIee -;aa i destined to be the seat of a
n',,a more numerous, probably, than
Ppas,;on now existing with the same
an. c,lar language, unless one except
sei s;at;c nations 1t would be little
sonis ~shIe 10 the founders of great empire
~ hnrried prematurely into errors and
.,n,;ons by the mere force of authority
coa aus,s appeal to the pride of the young
.. a saws the dttantic writer, is curl
ars mari OF that consciousness OF being an
eas apr;can which we are inclined to think
,rss more pronounced In Webster than In
s Sa # the leaders of the country.
a. The reader and grammar recede into
.,.scnrity before the shining success of
DIT Of A Grammatical Institute, which
!, frst containing a new and accurate
S.andard of pronunciation" afterward
ssa ap the title of the American Spelling
po,b and finally, undergoing consider
p issa AreVision, passed into the well-known
a aiansptsry. 1.-THE spelling book" he
liz LIZ Il one of his essays, "does more to
sa,m the language of nation than all
i r.ssr hooks" and the man who first sup
o ot;sd aur Young nation with spelling
nnp has undoubtedly affected its spelling
sob;ts more than any other single
n n 1t is very plain. too, that
Webster was moralist and philosopher
- veil as a speller. He was by no means
aa,tyicted in his ambition to the teaching
If correct spelling, but he aimed to have a
hsnd in the molding of the national mind
and national manners In his preface TO
the American Spelling Book, he says: " To
difuse an uniformity and purity of
Ian mage in America, to destroy the pro-
yinciaI prejudices that originate in the
trifIinq differences of dialect and produce
reciprocal ridicule, to promote the interest
of literature and the harmony of the
limited States. is the most earnest wish of
the author. and it is his highest ambition
~ deserve the appreciation and encourage
ment of his countrymen." His spelling
book, accordingly, In It's early editions,
contained a number of sharp little warn
ings in the form of footnotes, which imply
that he seized the young nation just in
time to prevent the perpetuation of vulgar
errors which, once becoming universal,
would have required the hereditary
Webster to make them the basis of ortho-
epic canons. Thus ar is reprobated when
AK is intended Americans were TO say
acasnscot, not ptnchcott; resin, not rOzun,;.
chimney not chimbly; confseate not con-
fsttcdte. As these warnings disappeared
after a few years, it may be presumed that
he regarded the immediate danger as past;
but the more substantial matters of good
morals came to have greater prominence,
and in addition to the columns OF classified
words, which constitute almost the sole
contents of the earliest edition, there
came to be inserted those fables and moral
and industrial iniunctions, with sly re-
minders of the virtue of Washington,
which have sunk into the soft minds of
three generations of Americans. Webster
had the prudence, possibly fortified by his
publishers worldly wisdom, 10 keep his
spelling book free from the photographic
reforms which ne was longing to make,
and. remembering the sturdiness with
which he held TO what he regarded as
sound grammatical principles, we suspect
that his spelling book cost him many con-
fiicts of conscience. He very early threw
out feelers In the direction which he after
ward took In the preface quoted from
above he says further: "The spelling of
such words as publick, favour, neighbour,
head. prove, phlegm, his, give, debt, rough
well, instead of the more natural and
easy method, public, favor, nabor,
he'd, proov, fem, hiz, Civ, Diet, ruf,
vel, has the plea Of antiquity in its favor;
and yet | am convinced that common
sense and convenience will sooner or later
get the better of the present absurd prac-
tee" There is curious foot-note to the
Introduction to his dictionary edition of
1885, in which he supports the spelling of
td5or by the authority of Gen. Washing
ton, who was the most unimpeachable au-
thority, since he was the Father of his
Country.
His mind was intent on this reform, and
so early as 1870 he published A Collection
Of Essays and Fugitiv Writings, in which
be carried out, in part, his notions as to
the reform OF the American language.
The preface is printed as he decided the
whole volume ought TO have been, except
for the inconvenience of it. "The reader
will observ," he says, " that the Orthogra-
Dhy Of the volum IL not uniform. The
'eazon liz that many of the essays have
,een published before, in the common or
biography, and it would hav been la
,orious task TO copy the whole for the sake
f changing the spelling. In the essays
itten within the last yeer considerable
hange Of spelling IL introduced by way
( experiment This liberty Waz taken by
he writer's before the age of Queen Eliza
,eth, and to this we are indicted for the
reference of modern spelling over that Of
tower and Chaucer. The man who adj
nits that the change of housbonde, myrade,
Igone, moneth into husband, mind, gone,
Month IL an improvement must acknowl-
,dge also the riting OF hetth, breth, rong,
olg, munth to be an improvement. There
u no alternitiv. Every possible recon
that could ever be offered for altering the
spelling of wurds still exists in full
force; and if gradual reform should
not be made in our language it will prove
that we are less under the influence OF
recon than our ancestors The reader
can easily see that Webster himself in the
above paragraph is rather timid reform.
II, attacking such defenseless little words
IS is, and passing by respectfully ~outd
md altered. The general appearance OF
hose essays in the volume, which are
printed after Webster's own heart, leads
me happening upon them nowadays into
ONE observation-disclosures since they are nv no