Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-07-17
fEeprinted from the Philadelphia Chronf-
cle-Herold, Of Nay II, 1851
Some Reasons Why Worcester" is Pre-
ferred to webster"

aries, but in this article it is proposed to
briefly present only few salient points
which are worthy of consideration in
connection with an examination of the
two works.
Probably there is no better course
for arriving at correct estimate of the
value of anything than a reference to
the opinions of those who have made
study of the question to be determined,
and whose acknowledged abilities war
rant this confidence. Applying this
test to the dictionaries, the result is un-
questionably in favor of WORCESTER
Referring TO such endorsements. We
find that
AMONG EDUCATORS
the position of WORCESTER is well de-
fined by the opinions of the late Hon.
Horace Mann, who wrote:
''For many years, in all my writing,
speaking, and teaching, l have en-
deavored TO conform TO the orthography
and pronunciation as contained in
Worcester's Dictionaries. L suppose
them TO represent the highest standard
recognized by the best writers and
speakers in England and in this coun-
try"
And of Prof. Noah Porter, d. D.,
President of Yale College, who states:
.'The best works of the kind have
been freely consulted, and among them
the well-known dictionary of DIR. Jo-
seph Z. Worcester, which is so honorable
to the industry of the author and the
scholarship of the country"
Besides, its recognition as the stand
ard by a number of the leading univer-
sites and colleges, and ITS adoption by
the Board of Education of many OF the
States, and numerous cities aad towns,
are conclusive evidence of its merits
from an educational point of view.
The Nese York EreRiRg Post (MarcE 20,
1870 pertinently observes:
"It follows from this with unerring
accuracy that Worcester's Dictionary,
being preferred over all others by
scholars and men of letters, should be
lsed by the youth of the country and
adopted in the common schools"
To define the position OF such work
AMONG SCIENTISTS
it is impossible to reach higher authorl-
ties than Prof. Joseph Henry, l.. l.. d.,
Of the Smithsonian Institute, at WASH
ington, and the late Prot. Louis Agas-
siz, l.. Id. Prof. Henry wrote:
AT the commencement of The opera
tons of this Institution. | referred the
question as to the dictionary the Smith
sonian should adopt as the standard Tor
spelling and definitions TO a commission
of literary gentlemen, and on their re-
commendatiOn adopted that of Norces-
ter, which has been continued as the
standard TO the present time"
And from among Prof. AgassiZ's nu-
merOus concentrations We quote:
II have long considered NoTcester's
quarto dictionary superior to any other
work of its kind"
AMONG MEN OF LETTERS
WORCESTER Is avOwedly preferred,
as the Nep York Herald (April 8, Is7O,
states:
1.-The best English writers and the
most particular American writers use
Worcester as their authority"
Communications now before US from
such distinguished writers and scholars
as Bryant, Longfellow. Whittier, Surn-
ner, Holmes, Irving, Winthrop, Agas-
siz, Marsh, Henry, Everett, Mann,
Quincy, FELTON,, Hilliard, Bayard Tay-
lOr. Memminger, Stephens, Lipscomb,
etc., amply attest this fact.
Furthermore, WORCESTER may be re-
garded as
THE NATIONAL STANDARD,
inasmuch as it is the authority of the
Departments at Washington. From the
Hon. A R. Spofford, the Librarian OF
Congress, who has long made study
of these matters, the publishers receiy-
ed the following letter:
"WAsHISGToN, Feb. l., 1875,
"GENTLEMEN The report having
been made that Webster's English Die
tionary is adopted as the standard by
national officers, TO the exclusion of
Worcester's, take occasion to say that
so far as the Library of Congress is con-
cerned. Webster has never been follow
ed in orthosraphy in printing its cata-
logues, reports, or any other documents
On the contrary, wherever proofs from
the Congressional Printing Office en-
body the innovations upon English or
biography which Webster introduced,
thev are invariably returned with cor
rectiOns restoring the established SPELL
ing as represented by Worcester and
the usage of all great English writers.
"Very respectfully,
"a. K. SPoFFoRD,
Librarian of Congress"
A point worthy of careful observation
is the fact that readers who nave been
taught at school to spell according to
Webster, as soon as they arrive at an
age warranting the use of their own
discrimination, adopt the style pre-
ferred by WORCESTER, and it is singu-
larly the case that many parties (the
majority, from our observatory. who
claim Webster as their authority. spell
the test words according TO WORCESTER.
Would il not be best, therefore, that all
youth should be instructed in accord
ance With what their matured judgment
and scholars opinions influence them
to accept in later years as being cor
rect and in
CONFORMITY WITH ACCEPTED USAGE"
as it is expressed by MIR. Whitelaw
Reid, editor of the NeU York Tribune,
in a letter, august Is, lS7), from
which the following is quoted:
''After our recent strike we made the
change TO Worcester as our authority
in spelling, chiefly to bring ourselves
in conformity with the accepted usage,
as well as to CRAFTY the desire of most
of our staff, including such gentlemen
as Mr.. Bayard Taylor, Mr.. George W.
Besides, the photography of WoRCEs-
TER is used in large majority of the
standard and popular works that are
daily read, as well as in the leading pc
riodicals and papers of the day.
1t is a well-known fact that Web
ster's Dictionary contained so many
eccentricities in the way of spelling
-'capricious and baseless fluctuations
and variations" as the Philadelphia
Press (Feb. 8, 1870 designates them
that il was found absolutely necessary
to repeatedly revise the work, and each
time the editors introduced the style
preferred by WORCESTER in place of
many of the innovations of Webster.
Regarding these changes the Ne1o York
Independent (Oct. Is, lS77) remarks:
"Worcester's Dictionary is generally
to be the standard au-
especially in spelling and pro-
and many publishers and
like the Tribune, whcih for
a tiI.e adopted Webster's as an author
ity, have gone back 10 Worcester's. In