New-York tribune., 1894-04-08
4 STANDARD" DICTIONARY.
,rs spE1JJNGs. ITS VOCABULARY, ITS
DEFINITIONS AND THEIR ONoCihN-
TIFIC METHOD: ITS DEFERENCH
TO THE AVERAGE MAN. IT'S
GENERAL MERITS.

GENERAL MERl1S
London, March p.
The English have given friendly "ecoine -
the Standard Dictionary Of the FUNK " "'e
nails Company of New-York The welcome is
friendly notwithstanding the American orisi" VI
the book 1t is civil Notwithstanding the aoo'''
ipaha smelling to which [ for will never
anplv the adjective American. | have always
maintained that II represented phase, ana
very imperfect and melancholy one, In America"
development or American scholarship. 1t was
an acc,dant Webster. TO whom it is mainly
due. came at time when there was none 700
much sound learning and when that appeute
for mere novelty which is one mark Of sclolism'
nrevailed A spirit of protest against what II
accepted Is another mark of the same thihs' Vi
protest for protests sake. Perhaps spirit vi
pseudo pa triotism had something TO 90 Win It,
an idea that America ought to have a spellihs VI
her own as well as a literature OF her own
Noah Webster impersonated all these intel
Iectual eccentricties He was not scholar not
a sound or learned philooglst He was an e"i-
nirical photographer. He had the courage oi Ms
absurdties and did not shrink from stereOypi"s
them in a dictionary. Later. his dlcuohaiE was
innroved bv Goodrich and later still by Porter
and the German. MAIN. That was what patrlo'-
ism in orthography came to: we went to herNh
rrofaseor IN he taught American. The goodness
| of this last revised Webster. in which there was
! no, much left Of Webster as he first presented
| himself 70 the public gave a fresh vogue 10 MS
ineptitudes In the spelling of certain words Inc
! smelling got a foothold in printing and publshihs
offices. perhaps In newspaper Offices most readily
! Of all II caught on in the West Chicago re-
| celvod II with rapture. and Arkansas thought II
| a new revelation It became kind o, VeS'eu
interest. and interest too powerful. perhaps ior
scholars to contend against
Thus was II that one dictionary y-maker after
! another followed servilely at the heels of "eo-
/ ster When the Century Dictionary was plahneu
hv its spirited projectors there was BoV'
| ch,rce for = successful revolt They had cour-
age and money. They could well have aHorueu
to risk something. and to strike a new note or
return to the old. But they were badly ADVISED
don't know whether 1t was Professor whit
nov or another who took the decision about
smelling and resolved that the rut had grown
roo doom 70 lift the wheel out of. Professor MT
rov was In any case Professor Of Sanskrt, not
Of spelling He knew great deal OF Sahskrlt'
perhaps more Sanskrit than English Al any
rate the chance was missed
Then perhaps. more strongly than ever oe
| fore the idea had rooted itself in the American
mind tina, to spell traveller with two Is Implied
= preference for foreign lands and an Imperfect
affection Of your own Some millions OF budding
american Presidents. from seven to seventy
wears OF age held II to be what the lrate MI
| Rrander Matthews calls a criticism. MT bra"-
! dor Matthews IS perhaps the most accomplished
u,irc snocimcn OF tho AngOphobe. and he has
I hear. pupils and readers. and authority III THESE
matters Very different men held notions not
! loss pcrverse than his. Mr. Blaine he!d theth
He maintained In all seriousness that the ma
! ,.,,ia he
s,xtv millions Of people allow thirty-hve millions
., sn.u for thcm?" | used To ask him whether
he would apply this canon Of pure democracy
to all questions Of scholarship; whether he would
nut the theory OF tides to the popular Vole' Oh
agree that two and two make five II the sN.S
millions said so? But he was obdurate;-so oO-
l,,ro,o that q seemed 10 be an open question
whether he would not have a pebiscite IN the
United states to determine whether joel BAR
low or Homer had the truest notion OF what
an epic poem ought to be like
In this matter of spelling, the editors OF inc
standord Dictionary have followed meeky IN
,h. footsteps ot the Century as the Century
IN Wchsters. They give indeed. alternative spell
,,es as the Century" did. and as the revised
Webster dld. But alternatives are for the curi-
ous Nineteen ont Of twenty who 60 - d'c-
ti,na~v ror information take the first spelling
that Is offered
!. may be- a knowledge of that popularity OF
human nature which lei the editors of the
Standard 70 resolve giving frs, that dehhlu"'
| Of a word which represents its most frequent
usage. The practice is not scientific; II IL not
usual II may often mislead, IT is veXinS 70 the
student but II may well enough be popular
There are various other points in when popu-
Iaritv seems 70 have been the main object oi
the compilrrs of this dictionary. There need p'
no objection to a reasonable corpianc" wit'
nopular wishes in a work meant. before all '"' *
10 be popular and To securr great SAFE
The selection Of words affords another ilustra-
ton Selection is perhaps not an accurate eN
nrossion for the method adopted. Collection
n.o,,Id came nearer Has anything been ex
c,uded9 Ia ANYTHING too colloquial or too familiar
mr. within the limits Of decency too vulgar fol
admissiono II Is thought necessary that eacf
rew connection for the public favor shall be able
,o cay that he gives more words than his pre-
decessor No doubt. the Standard has IN thi'
particular beat the record. The "lnternauohai
Webster has 1875 900 words: the Century Z-'ooo
, the Standard $50 OO0 or more. The editor never
/ tb.,ess. tells us in his practice that the nee'
for the exercise Of discriminating judgmen
has been clearly recognized, and he quotes
with considerable courage. Mr.. LoVeil cna'
acterstic protest against the ominum ga'heruii
Q method. I will take leave 10 quote II again
= "A dictionary that should embrace every un
usuol word every new compound. every meta
phorical turn Of meaning 10 be FOUND IN ou
? great writer's, would be compendium OF IN
, genius OF our authors rather than OF our ian
yuaee. and a photographer who rakes the secon
and third-rate men for out-Of-the-way phrases /
doing us no favor \ dictionary Is not drag
net to bring up for us the broken pots ana dea
e kittens the sewerage Of speech as well as II
= living fishes Nor do we think it fair test q
such a work that one should seek in 1t for ever
odd word that may have tickled his fancy in