of Boston, and established himself at Hartford, in the practice of the law. In 1793, he was solicited by some eminent statesmen to establish a paper in the city of New York, in defense of Washington's administration, then violently assailed by the partisans of France. Accordingly, from his strong attachment to the principles of the Father of his Country, he removed to New York, and there established a daily paper, called the • Minerva, with which he connected a semi-weekly paper, called the Herald, names which were afterward changed to those of the Commercial Advertiser, and the New York Spectator. This was the first example of a paper for the country, made up from the columns of a daily paper without recomposition, a practice which is now common.

In 1795, he published, in vindication of Mr. Jay's treaty with Great Britain, to which there was violent opposition, a series of papers, under the signature of CURTIUS, which were extensively re-printed throughout the country, and which, in the opinion of Mr. Rufus King, expressed to Mr. Jay, did more than any other papers of the same kind to allay the opposition to the treaty. In 1799, as the result of laborious investigation, he published in two volumes, octavo, his "History of Pestilential Diseases," which was re-published the same year in England. In 1802, he published his celebrated Treatise on the "Rights of Neutrals ;" and the same year, Historical Notices of "Banking Institutions and Insurance Offices." Mr. Webster, in the spring of 1798, removed to New Haven.

In the preface to his "Compendious Dictionary," published in January, 1806, he announced to the public that he had entered on the great work of his life, to which his studies had been immediately directed for some years, that of compiling a new and complete dictionary of the English language. Some of the reasons for doing this, are set forth in his published "Letter to Dr. David Ramsay," Charleston, South Carolina. During the many years in which his attention had been turned to the subject, he had become deeply convinced of the need of a dictionary which, in the extent of its vocabulary, and the fullness of its definitions, would be commensurate with the progress of the language, as written and spoken. The English and the American nations had been rapidly advancing in the discoveries of science, in the inventions of art, in new modes of thought. The language had kept pace with these improvements and changes, by the introduction of new terms, or by the extended use of old ones. But lexicography had stood still fifty years, from 1755, when Johnson's Dictionary was published. Mr. Webster, while he duly appreciated the difficulty of the task, undertook it upon high public grounds. In the letter mentioned above, he remarks: "The undertaking is Herculean; but it is of far less consequence to me than to my country."

It is no easy task to collect the " winged words" we speak, and give them stability and form, and "local habitation."

He who would do it,

must be not only conversant with the usages of the best speakers and best writers, but also with the laws which govern the structure of language in general, and of his own in particular. He must be acquainted, in some degree, with all the arts and sciences, in order to explain their terms. And since, in the wide field of knowledge, "some words are budding, and some are falling away," he must explore that field, in order to gather the living

In short, as one has strikingly said, "a dictionary extracts and condenses the essence of all other books; it holds, as in embryo, the elements of all things known." And then, too, in the pronunciation and orthography, there are many perplexing difficulties connected with divided usage, conflicting analogies, authorities at variance with each other, and unsettled derivations. Moreover, a correct classification of the parts of speech involves the application of a refined logic. Besides these, Dr. Webster met with unexpected embarrassment in the departments of etymology. After writing through two letters of the alphabet, he laid aside his manuscripts, and endeavored, by a comparison of words having the same or cognate radical letters, in twenty different languages, to discover the real or probable affinities between the English and other languages, and thus to obtain a more correct knowledge of the origin and primary sense of words. In this department of lexicography, he labored ten years, in the careful comparison of radical words, and in forming a "Synopsis of the principal words in twenty languages, arranged in classes under their primary elements or letters." After completing this synopsis, he proceeded to finish the work.

During the progress of these labors, Mr. Webster, finding his resources inadequate to the support of his family at New Haven, removed, in 1812, to Amherst, a pleasant country town in Massachusetts.

Here, notwithstanding his devotedness to his studies, he entered with his characteristic ardor into the literary and social interests of the place: promoted agricultural improvements, himself cultivating a few acres; represented the town at different times in the General Court of Massachusetts, as he had done New Haven in the General Assembly of Connecticut; employed his influence in the establishment, first of the academy, and then of the college, of whose Board of Trustees he was president; delivered the address at laying the corner-stone of the first college edifice, and inducted the first president into office.

In 1822, Mr. Webster returned to New Haven. In 1823, he received the degree of LL. D. from Yale College. In June, 1824, he sailed for Europe, with a view to perfect his work, by consulting literary men abroad, and by examining standard authors, to which he could not have access in this country. He spent two months at Paris, in consulting rare works in the Bibliotheque du Roi, and then went to England, where he remained till May, 1825. He spent several months at the University of Cambridge, where he had free access to the public libraries, and there he finished the "American Dictionary."

An edition was published, in 1828. This contained twelve thousand words, and between thirty and forty thousand definitions, not found in any preceding dictionary. An edition was soon after published in England. In 1841, another edition was published in this country, containing, with those in the addenda, about eighteen thousand additional words.

Of the merits of that dictionary, it does not fall within the limits of this notice to speak. It is sufficient to say, that in the estimation of those best qualified, both in this country and in Europe, to form a correct judg ment, it has taken the same place at the head of English lexicography which Johnson's great work took ninety years ago. With the excellencies of that work, it unites other excellencies, corresponding with the advanced state of philology, and the progress of the Anglo-Saxon race

Besides his principal productions, above mentioned, there are numerous others to be included in a complete list of his writings.

Dr. Webster loved truth in all its manifestations, whether in science or art, whether in politics and history, or in morals and religion. Though absorbed for years in the study of language, he lost none of his interest in the objects to which it is applied; for he still remembered that "things are the sons of God, and that words are the daughters of men." He had hat ardent thirst for knowledge which is the true scholar's moving power; his prompted him to his investigations, and sustained him in their progress. When an opinion was proposed, he never so much as asked whether it was new, or whether it was old; but his constant and only inquiry was, is it true? And how great was his gratification, when successful in his search after truth, we may learn from his own statement : "While engaged in composing my dictionary, I was often so much excited by the discor eries I had made, that my pulse, whose ordinary action is scarcely sixty beats to the minute, was accelerated to eighty or eighty-five." As he welcomed truth in all forms, so he dared to introduce it to the world, trusting that it would win its way to the confidence of others. And if, delving in the mine of original investigation, he sometimes threw up to the light masses of truth too large to enter immediately into general circulation, he had the satisfaction of knowing that there were those who understood its value. Indeed, he often had the gratification to see many truths become current, which, at their first presentation, were rejected. And if, in the progress of his investigations, continued for so many years, he found reason to change an opinion, he had the magnanimity to make the recantation as public as the avowal.

Equally remarkable was his love of virtue. His sensibility was easily moved, either by what is right in conduct, on the one hand, or by what is wrong, on the other. He could not speak of moral distinctions with indifference. His heart, his voice, his pen, and his conduct were always on the side of virtue, and order, and religion. As a lover of the human race, of his country, of his friends, of his God, no man could better discharge the various duties of his station, or dispense, with a more winning grace, all the sweet charities of life. In his last years, he had good health, an unimpaired mind, and "that which should accompany old age, as honor, love, troops of friends." In his last days, he enjoyed the hopes of the gospel. Death took him not by surprise. When, after a short illness, the announcement of his approaching dissolution was made to him, “I am ready," was his simple and sublime reply. He met the King of Terrors, saying, "I know in whom I have believed; I have no doubts, no fears He died on the 28th of May, 1843, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.

But he will long be remembered by many, as the youthful soldier, who was ready, if need be, to pour out his blood and his life together for the land of his birth; as the thoughtful politician, who early devised a scheme for uniting the states under a Constitution, such as the country now enjoys; as the grateful citizen, who gallantly sprang to the defense of Washington, when factious men rose up against him; as the laborious lexicographer, who throws a strong and steady light upon the English language; as the

REMARKS

UPON THE ORTHOGRAPHY OF DR. WEBSTER, AS EXHIBITED IN HIS

SERIES OF DICTIONARIES.

1. Terminations in our changed into or.-Such words as favor, labor, &c., formerly ending in our, drop the u. One word, however, is here given in both ways, viz., Savior, Saviour.

2. Terminations in ck, changed into c.-Words of more than one syllable, ending in ic or iac, which formerly ended in k, have dropped the k, as in music, maniac, &c. Add to these almanac, sandarac, limbec, (from alembic;) also havoc. The k is retained (1) in a few derivatives, as colicky, trafficker, mimicking, &c., to prevent an erroneous pronunciation; (2) in all monosyllables, as sick, stick, &c., and hence in their compounds, as candlestick, &c.; (3) in all other terminations except ic and iac, as in arrack, &c.

3. Terminations in re changed into er.-Such words as centre, metre, &c., with their compounds, have the re changed into er, as center, meter, &c. Some hundreds of words like chamber, cider, diameler, &c., have already undergone this change, which is here extended to about twenty more, to complete the analogy. Acre, massacre, and chancre are necessarily excepted, because the change would lead to an erroneous pronunciation. The above words, however, are here given in both modes of spelling.

4. Words in which the Final Consonant is not doubled in adding such Formatives as ing, ed, er, &c. It is a rule extending to many hundreds of cases, that, in adding to a word such formatives as ing, ed, er, &c., a single consonant at the end of a word is doubled when the accent falls on the last syllable, as in forgetting, beginning; but is not doubled when the accent falls on any preceding syllable, as in benefiting, gardener, &c. This rule has been violated in the case of about fifty words ending in 7, whose derivatives have had the 7 doubled, as traveller, &c. These words are here restored to their true analogous spelling, as recommended by Walker, Lowth, Perry, and others, as in traveling, canceled, leveler, counselor, duelist, marvelous, &c. On the same principle, woolen is spelled with a single 1. It does not interfere with this rule that chancellor, and the derivatives of metal and crystal, as metalline, metallurgy, crystalline, crystallize, &c., have the I doubled, since they come directly from the Latin cancellarius and metallum, and the Greek púorados. The above rule is also applied to the derivatives of worship and bias, making them worshiping, worshiped, worshiper, biasing, biased. Bigoted has already taken its true spelling with but one t, and such should be the spelling of carbureted, sulphureted, &c.

5. Distinction between Verbs in ize and ise.-Verbs from the Greek w, and others formed in analogy with them, have the termination ize, as baptize, legalize, &c. Catechise and exorcise are exceptions. Verbs, and also some nouns, derived directly from the French, with a few from other sources, end in ise, as advertise, advise, affranchise, amortise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, criticise, demise, despise, devise, disfranchise, disguise, divertise, emprise, enfranchise, enterprise, exercise, manumise, merchandise, misprise, (to mistake,) premise, reprise, (to take again,) revise, supervise, surmise, surprise.

6. Terminations in able.-Able, when incorporated into words ending with silent e, cuts it off, as in blamable, except after c or g, as in noticeable, changeable.

7. Compounds of words ending in 11.—Such compounds as befall, miscall, install, forestall, inthrall, enroll, retain the double 1, to prevent a false pronunciation, befal, enrol, For the same reason, double should be retained in the nouns installment, inthrallment, thralldom, and enrollment.

&c.

8. Defense, offense, and pretense.-In these words. s is substituted for c, because s is used in the derivatives, as defensive, offensive, pretension. The words expense, recom

atively a short period, and a change in the three mentioned above, would complete the analogy.

9. Foretell, distill, instill, fulfill.-These words retain the U of their primitives, for it must be retained in the participles and other derivatives, as foretelling, distiller, &c. In this case it is only necessary to remember the rule, that the spelling of the original words, tell, still, fill, is retained in all the derivatives.

10. Connection, deflection, inflection, reflection.—These follow the spelling of their verbs, connect, &c.

11. Derivatives of dull, skill, will, and full.-These retain the ll, as dullness, fullness, skillful, willful, to prevent the inconvenience of exceptions to a general rule. Walker says, there is no reason why we should not write dullness, fullness, skillful and willful, as well as stiffness, gruffness, and crossness.

12. Derivatives of villain.-The derivatives of villain ought to retain the i, as in villainous, villainy, &c. This is the case in all similar words when the ain is not under the accent, as mountainous from mountain, captaincy from captain, &c.

13. Mould and moult.-These words should be written mold and molt, like gold, bold, fold, colt, &c., in which the u has been dropped or was never introduced.

14. Woe. This word takes the final e, like doe, foe, hoe, sloe, toe, and all similar nouns of one syllable. The termination in o belongs among monosyllables to the other parts of speech, as go, so, and to nouns of more than one syllable, as motto, potato, tomato, &c.

15. Practice, as a Verb.-This verb should be spelled like the noun, with a c, as in notice, apprentice, and all similar words in which the accent precedes the last syllable. The distinction of spelling between the noun and verb belongs properly to words accented on the last syllable, as device, n., devise (pronounced de-vize',) v. To apply the distinction here, and spell the verb practise, tends to give it the same pronunciation (practize,) as we often find in uneducated persons.

16. Drouth is given as spelled by Spenser, Bacon, &c., and as still extensively pronounced; and hight as spelled by Milton, and derived from high. They are, however, placed under drought and height, the more ordinary spelling, though, on some accounts, the old spelling is to be preferred.

REMARKS UPON ACCENT AND PRONUNCIATION.

1. Improper Diphthongs.-In these, the vowel which is sounded is alone marked, as in ai, ea or eä, ou, &c.

2. Double Accent (").—This is used in two cases: (1) When in such words as an"ger (pronounced ang'ger), the g is, as it were, drawn back to the preceding syllable, forming with n the sound of ng, while it is also retained with its proper hard sound in its own syllable. Thus the distinction is marked between such words as longer, of greater length, and long'er, one who longs. (2) When, in the case of e or i followed by ci or ti, the sound of sh is drawn back to the preceding syllable, as in special, discretion, addition, vicious, (pronounced spesh'al, diskresh'un, addish'un, vish'us.) The double accent is also used when the sound of zh is drawn back, as in transi'tion, vision, (pronounced transizh'un, vizh'un); but this peculiarity is also indicated either by respelling or by the markeds. When the single accent () and double accent (") both occur on the same word, the former is to be considered the primary and the latter the secondary accent, as in cheese'mon"ger.

3. Vowels in Italics.-Vowels which are italicized are not sounded. as the a in metal, the e in used, hazel, burden, the i in evil, cousin, the o in beckon, &c.

4. Accented Syllables.-When an accented syllable ends in a consonant, the vowel which it contains has its regular short or shut sound, unless otherwise denoted according to the key.

5. Unaccented Syllables.-When an unaccented syllable ends.in a vowel other than e mute, this vowel has an obscure or faint sound, unless otherwise marked. The obscure a is usually the short Italian a, as in America. The obscure e, i, and y, have the open sound of e shortened, as in event, labial, duty; and hence, in respelling for pronunciation, the e is used o denote these sounds.. The obscure o and u have their

A