R EP L Y
T O
MESSRS. G. & C.- MERRIAM'S ATTACK
UPON THE
CHARACTER OF DR. WORCESTER
AND
HIS DICTIONARIES.
BO STON:
JENKS, HICKLING AND SWAN.
1854.




STER.EOTYPED BY
HOBART  & ROBBINS;
NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDEREY
BOSTON.




WOR CE STER'S DICTIONARIES.
WE have recently received from a friend in Ohio a pamphlet issued
by Messrs. G. & C. MIerriam, of Springfield, Mass., containing a gross
and vulgar attack upon the character of Joseph E. Worcester, LL.D.,
and his Dictionaries.  To those who enjoy a personal acquaintance with
Dr. Worcester, the statements contained in it will excite only compassioni for the authors; but, as we are informed that the pamphlet has
been extensively circulated throughout the Western States, and in sections of the country where Dr. Worcester is personally unknown, it
becomes necessary, in justice both to him and ourselves, that we should
examine some.of the statements, and expose the falsity of them.'
The attack upon the character of Dr. Worcester commences with a
letter from  AMessrs. G. & C. Merriam, which occupies about fourteen
octavo pages, purporting to be addressed to one Mr. L. P. Frost, from
which we extract only the first paragraph, as follows:
Springfield, lMay, 1853.
MR,. FROST.
DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 30th of March was duly received. We have
also before us a copy of the pamphlet to which you refer, and beg leave to
say a few things in regard to its statements. To begin with the end: its
authors speak of their II r6gret that gratuitous and unfounded assaults upon
Wyorcester's Dictionaries " render it necessary for them to employ instrumentalities for which they seem conscious an apology is necessary. W~e will state
the facts. In 1828, Dr. Webster, after twenty or thirty years' assiduous
labor, published his AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF TIiE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, in 2
vols. 4to. In the previous year, 1827, an edition of Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, I vol. 8vo., was published in Boston, of which Mr. Worcester was
the Amnerican editor. Having the entire control of the matter, he retained
tile i; in words terminating in c, as musick, physick., abnanack, &c., and the
u in honour, favour, authour, and that large class of words; - Dr. Webster
omitted both these, as music, favor, &c., and they constitute a very large
and important class of the words in regard to which he departed from
the then prevalent orthography. Shortly subsequent to this,;MIr. Worcester was employed by Dr. Webster or his family to prepare an Abridgmnent
of the American Dictionary —the present 8vo., published by Messrs. Harpers, for which he was paid $2000. It may be supposed he-acquired some
skill in dictionary-making by his labor. Some fifteen or eighteen, years




4              WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.
subsequent to this, and very soon after Dr. Webster's death, - and not till
then, we believe,- and after Webster's 8vo. had acquired deserved celebrity
and a wide sale, Mr. Worcester announced his intention to issue a Dictionary himself, of the same size and price, which he shortly did, adopting several of Dr. Webster's peculiarities, omitting the k and u, as above alluded
to; but adding that he was " not aware of having taken a single word, or
the definition of a word," from Webster, in the preparation of his own work.
Yet it is a fact of significance in this connection, that errors in definitions,
and in other respects, into which Dr. Webster was inadvertently led in his
first, but corrected in subsequent editions, are faithfully found embodied in
Worcester.
Before proceeding to controvert the falshoods contained in the foregoing paragraph, we extract, from the 17th and 18th pages of the same
pamphlet, the following letter, which the Messrs. Merriam  say was
6recently received from a distinguished teacher in Eastern Massachusetts."  They do not give the name of the writer, or of the place of
his residence, but substitute blank lines, as given below:
April 13, 1853.
MESSRS. G. & C. MERRIAM.
GENTLEM EN: * * * * I have no doubt of its being the Dictionary of
the English Language, when Worcester shall be remembered only as an
unworthy and unjust speculation of the past.
Webster's Spelling Book was the class book of my earlier days, and the
memory of it- is still pleasant, from the Frontispiece,, with its Temple'of
Knowledge, to "Finis."
In later years I came into possession of Webster's smaller School Dictionary, and the feeling of exultation with which I looked over its pages is with
me yet. In the language of a justly celebrated teacher of New Hampshire,
there was no " tshuing " then, but simple common sense, founded on the use
and derivation of the words, in spelling and pronunciation.
Some fourteen or fifteen years since I looked over Webster's Octavo
Dictionary with MARSHALL S. RICE, Esq. (for more than twenty-five years
an eminently successful teacher in Newton Centre, Mass.), and he selected
something more than one hundred words, I should think, the spelling of
which was simplified, as compared with Walker, and sent them to the editor
of the BoSton Cultivator, and they appeared in the columns of that paper,
with a note commending Webster's Dictionary.  (I think I am right in the
name of the paper. I know I am in the fact.)
About that time, or soon after, I heard of Worcester's Dictionary. The
story came to me thus; namely, that Worcester was at once the pupil and
assistant of Webster, and, seeing that he, Webster, had taken a step in
advance of the age, though not in advance of truth, and also that Walker
was " behind the time," treacherously went to work, catering to the Walkerian taste of the day, and produced this " bastard dictionary."
Since then, year after year, I have watched the unscrupulous measures
with which the publishers of Worcester have' pressed their claims to public
attention and patronage, striving to defame the fair renown of Webster in
their fiagitious attempts to " fill their pockets " by foisting a comparatively
worthless book upon the public. Editions of all sizes, all prices, and no
prices, have been scattered through the community, placed in the hands of
teachers, committees, &c., in order to get them introduced into schools.
* * * I am not of age in the school-keeping business, yet, as this is
but my eighteenth year of teaching (not 21st), six of which I have passed in
connection with the Public High School in this place.




WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.                           5
* * ~ $ The " zwhining " of Worcester's advocates is with regard to the
spelling and pronunciation of a few words which use is every year rendering nearer and nearer, and will soon completely render, Websterian, for the
road to reach it is nothing in comparison to that already passld. And, in
defining, Webster is infinitely preeminent. When you touch on this point,
they are either mum, or yield the point at once.
Respectfully and truly yours,
In another pamphlet before us, issued by these same gentlemen, and
purporting to be a letter addressed by them  to Dr. Worcester, we find
the following axiom: "We take it for granted, that a person quoting,
publishing, alid circulating opinions and stafements made by others,
indorses those statements and opinions; or else, disbelieving them, gives
currency to what he knows to be falsehood."  WTe assent to the truth
of this proposition, and hold Messrs. G. & C(. Merriam, by their own
rule, responsible for the falsehoods contained in this letter, not only as
indorsers, but as principals, at least until they furnish the public with
the name of the author.  WNe do not wish even to insinuate that the
letter is a malicious fabrication, designed to injure both the moral
and literary character of Dr. Worcester, and to affect the sale of
his dictionaries; but we venture to assert that no gentleman holding the responsible office of " teacher in Eastern Massachusetts " will
be willing to avow himself publicly as the author.  We are, however,
content to hold the indorsers responsible; and, with a view to expose
the falsehoods contained in it, as well as in the preceding extract fiom
the Messrs. Merriam's letter, we invite the attention of the reader to
the following statement of facts in relation to the publication both of
Worcester's and Webster's Dictionaries.
In 1827, Johnson's English Dictionary, as improved by Todd, and'
abridged by Chalmers, with Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary combined, was published in Boston, and edited by Dr. Worcester.  It will
be noticed that the Messrs. Merriam, in order to make it appear that
Dr. Worcester had been inconsistent with himself in relation to ortlwagraphy,,say,
In 1827, an edition of Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, 1 vol. 8vo., was
published in Boston, of which Mr. Worcester was the American editor.
Having the entire control of the matter, he retained the k in words terminating in c, as musick, physick, almanack, &c., and the u in  otnour, Jfivour,
authour, and that large class of words.
This statement is void of truth, as will be seen by the following
extract from  a pamphlet recently issued by Dr. Worcester himself.
He says:




6              WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.
" Johnson's English Dictionary, as improved by Todd and abridged by
Chfalmers, with Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary combined," first published in Boston in 1827, was edited by me on principles fixed upon by the
publishers, and some literary gentlemen who were their counsellors in the
matter; and of these counsellors, the one who did the most in the business
was the late learned and much-respected Mr. John Pickering. It was made
my duty to conform to the principles established for my guidance; and 1
had no " control of the matter."  The Dictionary was to contain fohnson's
orthography, and lValker's pronunciation. I was so far from defending the
use of final k in music, physic, &c., that I said in relation to it, in my Preface
to that Dictionary, "The general usage, both in England and America, is at
present so strongly in favor of its omission, that the retaining of it seems now
to savor of affectation or singularity."
These publishers (,Messrs. Merriam) further charge me with'" adopting
several of Dr: Webster's peculiarities, omitting the k and u,," &c. I am not
aware of having adopted any of Dr. Webster's " peculiarities" relating
either to orthography or pronunciation; and if any such can be found in
my Dictionary, I should certainly not regard them as adding to the value
of the work.
With respect to the omission of k in music, public, &c., it may be stated.
in addition to what is said above, that it was omitted in that class of words
in Martin's English Dictionary, published in 1749, before that of Johnson:
and it has been omitted in many other Dictionaries published since; and the
omission of u in honor, favor, &c., was countenanced in the Dictionaries of
Ash and Entick, published long before that of Dr. Webster. The fact that
this orthography was the prevailing usage with the best authors in this
country was a good reason for adopting it.
There are other falsehoods relating to me, contained in the Advertising
Panmphlet of these publishers, which I pass by without particular notice.
In 1828 Dr. Webster completed his American Dictionary of -the
English Language, in two volumes, quarto.  It was published by Mr.
Sherman Converse, who, fortunately, is still alive to vindicate the character of Dr. Worcester, and to refute the slanders which have been
heaped upon him. The work contained so many innovations in orthography iand pronunciation, that it was not favorably received by the publie.  M'r. Converse found it an unprofitable speculation, and sought to
remunerate himself by publishing an Abridgment; but, before doing
this, he insisted upon some changes in orthography, and other variations
from the original.  He had spent the best portion of his business life in
the publication of it, and had invested a large amount of capital in the
work; and when he found that it would not sell either in this country
or in England, he looked forward to the publication of an Abridgment
of it, to save himself from pecuniary loss; but he informs us, after all
his experience in Dr. Webster's skill as a lexicographer, that if he
published an Abridgment, he " desired it to be made by an able hand,"
and that he " could think of but one man" whose attainments and pursuits had qualified him  for the task.  That man was Dr. Worcester
We prefer, however, to let MIr. Converse speak for himself in the mat.
I




WORCESTER' S  DICTIONARIES.                          7
ter.  In a letter to Dr. Worcester, dated August 31, 1853, vindicating
him from one of the attacks made upon his character by the Messrs.
Merriam, he says:
The simple history of the whole matter is this. I had published MlCr.
Webster's great Dictionary, and presenited it to the public.  The labor had
cost from two to three years of the best portion of my business life, without
any adequate remuneration. For this I lookedto an Abridgment, and such
future editions of the larger work as the demand might authorize.  But if I
published an Abridgment I wishled to stereotype it, and, as a business man,
I desired it to be made by an able band, and with some variations, of minor
importance, from the original.  On conferring with MiTr. Webster upon the
ubject, he stated two objections to my views. He felt that he had not the
physical power left to perform the labor in a reasonable time, and that he
could not preserve his literary consistency and be responsible for the variations which I desired. Yet, as I had published the great work after it had
been declined, and that not very graciously, by all the principal booksellers
on both sides of the Atlantic, he was willingo tat I should derive any remuneration I might anticipate from an octavo abridgment.  With these views
and feelings, he consented to commit the subject to the mutual discretion of
Professor Goodrich and myself; setting a limit, however, beyond which variations should not be made; and that he might not incur the least responsibility for such variations as the abridgment mlight contain, I understood him
to say he should give the copyright to another.
As soon as Mr. Webster had made his  decision, which was probably a
sacrifice of feeling on his part to do me a favor, I applied to you to undertake the labor. You declined, and so decidedly that I made a visit to Cambridge for the sole purpose of urging your compliance with my request.
You assured me that you could not undertake to abridge Mllr. Webster's
Dictionary, for the very good reason that you had then already made considerable progress in preparing a Dictionary of your own. At the same
time, you showed me a Synopsis of words of disputed pronunciation, with
the respective authorities.  But the result of our interview was an agreement on your part to abridge the Dictionary for me, and to allow me to use
your Synopsis, with the express reservation of the right to use it as your
own, for your own Dictionary.  And I must say that my persuasive powers
were very severely taxed in securing the desired result.
I returned to New Haven, and subsequently called on. you in company
with Mr. Goodrich, when the mnatter of variations was settled, and you
entered upon the labor; and I am free to say you performed it to my entirl
satisfaction, and I believe to that of Professor Goodrich also, for I never
heard an intimation to the contrary;
I am very faithfully yours,
S. CoN-vxSr.
It clearly appears, from  this letter, that Dr. Worcester was not
" employed by TIr. Webster or his family to prepare an abridgment of
the American Dictionary," as has been stated by the Messrs. Mierriam;
but that he undertook the task solely for MIr. Converse, and only upoll
his earnest and repeated solicitations.  I-e was at the time engaged in
making his " (Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary
of the English Language," his labors upon which he now suspended, and
produced the "American Dictionary of the English Language, abridged




8              WORCESTEIRS DICTIONARIES.
from the Quarto Edition, by Noah Webster," in 1829.  It is a fact
worthy to be remembered, that Dr. Worcester inserted upwards of
three thousand words into this Dictionary which were not contained in
Dr. Webster's Quarto Dictionary, and which, it may be presumed, were
unknown to Dr. Webster at the time he made it.
This is all the connection that Dr. Worcester ever had with Mr.
Webster, his family, or his Dictionaries; and yet Messrs. G. & C.
Merriam, nearly a quarter of a century after the labor was performed,
and probably when they supposed the parties to the transaction, other
than Dr. Worcester, were all dead, publish to the world, with a view to
injure his literary reputation and the sale of his works, " that Worcester was at once the pupil and assistant of Webster, and seeing that he,
Webster, had taken a step in advalce of the age, &c.,- treacherously
went to work, catering to the WVakerian taste of the day, and produced
this [his own]'bastard dictionary.'"
Dr. Worcester having silently submitted to these and similar slanders, at length felt himself compelled to publish a statement of facts in
relation to this matter, in which he pronounced the statement that he
had been employed by Mr. Webster or his family as "void of trzeth";
to which the Miessrs. Merriam  publish a reply, and, with their accustomed mendacity, reiterate the charge.  The following correspondence
places the subject in its true light.
DR. WORCESTER'S LETTER.
December 13, 1853.
To MR. S. CONVERsE.
DEAR SIR: I say in my pamphlet, "The statement that I was employed
ly Dr. Webster or his fiamily to abridge the American Dictionary is void,
of' truth." This I supposed, and still suppose, to be strictly true. Is it or is
it Aot so? You were the only person that I had anything to do with in
undertaking to perform that labor, and I supppsed you acted on your own
responsibility, as in an affair of your own. The Messrs. Merriam, in their
recent pamphlet, say, " Our statement, we submit to you and the public, in
its fair intent and spirit, is not void of truth, and you were employed by Dr.
Webster or his family, through Mr. C., as their agent, to abridge his
Dictionary."
Please to inform me, from your own knowledge of the facts, whether my
statement is strictly true or not.
Yours, &e.,            J. E. WORCESTER.
MR. CONVERSE'S ANSWER, DATED
December 19, 1853.
To MR. WORcESTER.
DEAR SIR: You request me to say whether, in negotiating with you to
abridge Mr. Webster's Quarto Dictionary, I acted as agent either of Dr.
Webster or his family. My answer is, that I acted as agent of no man. My
arrangement with Mr. Webster and his family was permission to make and
publish an octavo abridgment of the large work, with liberty to include
some slight alterations from the original. The alterations were left to the




WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.                           9
mutual discretion of Professor Goodrich and myself, carefully restricted
within a limit dictated by Mr. Webster. This point settled, I determined
to stereotype the work; and as the whole responsibility of the undertaking
rested on me alone, I could think of but one man to whom I felt willing to
confide the important trust of making an abridgment which involved a risk
so great. Your attainments and pursuits had eminently qualified you for
the task, and I decided at once to engage your services, if possible. Either
before or directly after my correspondence with you upon the subject, I intimated my preference and purpose to Professor Goodrich, and received his
cordial approval. The risk and expense both of abridging and stereotyping
the Octavo Dictionary were exclusively my own. The family of Mr. Webster had no share in either, and I do not know that I ever disclosed to any
member of it the terms of my contract, either with yourself or the typefounders.                      Y Yours, &c.,          S. CONVERSE.
We conclude this part of our subject: with ihe following extract from
Dr. Worcester, in relation to his having been " at once a pupil and
assistant of Webster": —." I will leave it with the reader to characterize
such a course and such language as he may see fit; with the single
remark that, so far from having been' a pupil and assistant of Webster,'
I never saw him to speak with him more than three or four times
during his life."
In 1830 Dr. Worcester published his "Comprehensive Pronouncing
and Explanatory Dictionary of the Epglish Language."  Soon after
the work appeared, the most serious attacks were made upon his character, and even Dr. Webster himself had the temerity to charge him
publicly with plagiarism; with what success the reader will see on
reading the following statement made by Dr. Worcester, and the
correspondence which follows.
As the question respecting the use made of " the materials of Dr. Webster" has'become one of so much importance, I have thought, on further
reflection, that it is proper the public should have the means of better understanding the reasons which induced me to take the course which I did, in
preparing my " Universal and Critical Dictionary."  My course, which was
known to some of my literary friends, was objected to; for I was told that,
by totally abstaining from such use of Dr. WVebster's Dictionary, I deprived
myself of advantages for improving my own, which I might, to some extent,
without impropriety, avail myself of; but I was sure, from what thad already
taken place, that I could not make such use, to a degree that would be of
any benefit to me, without subjecting myself to such reproach as would be
very unpleasant. I therefore merely cited Dr. Webster's authority in relation to words differently pronounced by different orthodpists.
The necessity, in order to avoid reproach, of my taking the course I did in
relation to the Universal Dictionary,, must be sufficiently obvious to all who
know what took place with respect to my previous work, entitled the Comprehensive Dictionary, which was first published in 1830. In November,
1834, there appeared in the Worcester Palladium (a newspaper published
at Worcester, Mass.), at the instigation, as I was informed, of an agent for
Dr. Webster's Dictionaries, an attack upon me, in which the following language was used: "A gross plagiarism has been committed by Mr. J.. E. Worcester on the literary property of Noah Webster, Esq......  Mr. Worces



10             WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.
ter, after having become acquainted with Mr. Webster's plan, immediately
set about appropriating to his own benefit the valuable labors, acquisitions, and
productions of Mr. Webster...... If we had a statute which could fix its
grasp on those who pilfer the products of mind, as readily as our laws embrace
the common thief, Mr. Worcester would hardly escape with a light mulct."
At this time the Christian Register, published in Boston, was edited
by Professor Sidney Willard, who happened to be as well acquainted'with
my lexicographical labors, and the circumstances relating to them, as almost
any gentleman in the community;. and ho answered this (as he styled it)
"ferocious assault " in such a manner' as he thought proper, before I had
any knowledge that such an assault had been made. In order to sustain his
accusation, the editor of the Palladium enumerated twenty-one words, which
he said " are found in none of the English Dictionaries in common use, and
were undoubtedly taken fiom Webster's."  I thought proper to send to the
editor an answer to his attack.  In a succeeding number of the Palladium,
there appeared a short letter to the editor from  Dr. Webster, dated New
iaven, December Ilth, 1834, in which he said, " That he [Worcester] borrowed some words and definitions, I suppose to be proved by the fact that
they are found in no British Dictionary; at least, in none that I have seen."
Subsequently there appeared, in the Palladium, a letter from Dr. Webster,
addressed to me, dated January 25th, 1835. This was followed by an answer
from me, dated February 6th. Two more letters from Dr. Webster followed,
together with my answers.  The editor of the Christian Register transferred
the whole correspondence into his paper.
By perusing all that appeared in these two newspapers, the Palladitim and
the Register, the reader would have the means of judging of the merits of
the case, and would be able to understand something of the circumstances
and reasons which induced me to take the course of abstaining entirely from
the use of the materials found in Dr. Webster's Dictionary. But, as it
might tax the patience of the reader too much to place before him all this
matter (which may be seen by examining the files of those newspapers), I
will now insert Dr. Webster's first letter to me, dated January 25, together
with my answer. This letter contains Dr. Webster's chief specifications
against me, — a list of one hundred and twenty-one words, " which," he said,
"primdfacie, would seem to be taken from his Dictionary."  In his subsequent letters, he did not specify any more words as borrowed fromn hii; and
the only word specified, with respect to which he accused me of" adding his
definitions," was the word.clapboard; and in that, I may say, he succeeded
no better in his evidence than with respect to the charge of borrowing the
one hundred and twenty-one words.  The reader will please to compare the
specifications and the evidence with the charges against me, quoted from the
Worcester Palladium, and characterize the whole transaction as he may
see fit.
3IR. WEBSTER'S LErTTER.
From the Worcester Palladium.
NAew Haven, fanuary 25, 1835.
MR. J. E. WORCESTER.
Sin: Before I saw, in the Worcester Palladium, a charge against you
of committing plagiarism on my Dictionary, I had not given much attention
to your Dictionary. Nor have I now read and compared with mine onetenth part of the work. But in running over it, in a cursory manner, I have
collected the following words, which, prima facie, would seem to have been
taken from my Dictionary:
Abatable               Bateau                  Chowder
Assignor               Cartrut                 Congregationalist
Augean                 Caucus                  Congressional




WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.                         11
Clapboard             Musquash               Scorify
Dell                  Notarial               Scow
Dutiable              Neap (of a cart,,Yc.)   Sheepshead
Deliquesce            Neptunian               Spry
Digraph                Outlay                 Squirm
Emphasize              Obsidian               Spinning-jenny
Effloresce             Obstetrics             Spinning-wheel
Educational            Ochlocracy             Seraskier
Effervescent           Olivaceous             Siderography
Electioneer            Ophiologist            Siderographical
Farrow'                Ophiology              Slump
Fructescence           Philosophism          Succotash
Fracas                Phosphoresce            Selectman
Glazing               Phosphorescence         Sparse
Governmental          Phosphorescent          Sou
Grandjury             Prayerful              Souvenir
Graphite               Prayerless            Suffix, n. 4- v.
Griddle               Promisee               Tirade
Hydrant               Pappoose                Tenderloin
Irredeemable           Pistareen              Teraphim
Instanter              Pledgee                Test, v.
Isothermal             Postfix                Thammuz
Johannes               Postnote               Tetaug
Judiciary (noun)       Raca                   Tomato
Kumiss                 Ramadan                Tuffoon
Land-office            Razee                  Uranology
Lapstone               Redemptioner           Varioloid
Landslip               Rhabdology             Vapor-bath
Leach                  Rock-crystal           Vermivorous
Leachtub               Roil, roily            Vishna
Magnetize              Repealable             Voltaism
Mazology               Safety-valve           Voleanist
Mishna                Semiannual              Waffle ~
Moccason               Sectional              Whiffletree.Monitorifil          Sabianism               Wilt
Muscovado              Saltrheum              Winter-kill
Muskrat, or           Savings-bank            Zumology.
I will thank you, sir, to state in what other Dictionary, except mine, you
found the foregoing words, and how many or which you borrowed from
mine.
Your compliance with this request will oblige
Your humble servant,
N. WEBSTER.
IiR. WORCESTER'S ANSWER.
Cambridge, February 6, 1835.
Dra. NoAH WEBSTER.
SIR: On Friday last I received a copy of the Worcester Palladium, in
which was found a letter addressed by you to me, containing a list of one
hundred and twenty-one words from  my Dictionary, " which," you say,
";prinzdfacie, would seem to have been taken from your Dictionary;" and
you add that you "will thank me to state in what other Dictionary, except
yours, I found the words, and how many or which I borrowed from yours."
As a lawyer, sir, you are aware, that, when an accusation is made, the
burden of the proof lies not with.the accused, but with the accuser. It
might not, therefore, perhaps be improper for me to take the ground that
your request is an unreasonable one, and for that reaeson to decline to com



12             WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.
ply with it. I will not, however, avail myself of this right. - I think I may
truly say that in my transactions with you it has been my intention to act
uprightly and faithfully, nor do I know that an individual of those who are
most acquainted with the facts (yourself excepted) has a different impression. In answer to the charges which have appeared against me in the
Worcester Palladium, I have already made some statements of facts, none
of which, so far as I know, have been, or can be, disproved. You now call
for something further, and it shall be cheerfully granted. I feel indeed
gratified by the manner in which you have been pleased to make the request;
for though I have no love of contention, yet, if I must be dragged into a
newspaper controversy in defence of myself in this matter, I should prefer
that, of all men in the world, it should be with yourself, writing under your
own nanle.
You evidently supposed, sir, that none of the words in your list were to be
found in any Dictionary that was published before the appearance of your
work; but I confess I am somewhat surprised at this fact, inasmuch as,
from your reputation as a lexicographer, it might naturally be supposed that
you were extensively acquainted with works of this sort, and especially with
the wdrks which are so well known to all persons who have any just pretensions to much knowledge of this kind of literature as are the several
publications which I shall name. I shall-not go out of my own library,
or mention any work that I was not in the habit of consulting in preparing
my Dictionary.
Of the one hundred and twenty-one words in your list, eighteen are found
in an edition of Bailey's Dictionary, published more than a century ago, and
twenty-one in a later edition; thirty-five, in Ash's Dictionary, published in
1775; thirty-seven, in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary combined with Walker's,
edited by J. E. /Worcester, and published before the appearance of yours,
twenty-one, in Mr. Pickering's Vocabulary, published in 1816; not less than
thirty in the Encyclop edia Americana, and nearly as many in Brewster's
New Edinburgh Encyclopsedia; and in these several works upwards of
ninety of the words are found, and many of them several times repeated. I
have, in addition to the works above mentioned, about fifty English Dictionaries and Glossaries, in a majority of which I have aecertained that more or
less of the words in question are to be found, but I have not leisure, at present, to go through a minute examination of them.
Of your hundred and twenty-one words, six or seven are not to be found,
so far as I can discover, in your Quarto Dictionary, and one of them is one
of those three thousand words which are contained in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, but are not to be found in your great work, and which were inserted
by me in the octavo abridgment of your Dictionary. Whether any of the
others are among the words which were inserted in the abridgment at my
suggestion, I cannot say with certainty.
From the preceding statement, you may perceive, sir, that your prima
facie evidence is sufficiently disposed of, as it respects the most of the words
in question. You inquire " in what other Dictionary " the words are to be
found; and in your former communication to the Worcester Palladium you
were so candid as to say " that I borrowed some words from you, you suppose to be proved by the fact that they are found in no British Dictionarv;
at least, in none that you have seen."  Now, sir, it appears to me tliat'it
would be quite as sound logic to infer, from the above statements, that you
have not seen, or at least have not carefully examined, many British D)ictionaries, as it would to infer, with respect to a list of words, that because
you do not know of their existence in British Dictionaries, they must, therebore, have been taken from yours; for it appears sufficidntly evident that
there may be words in British Dictionaries that, you are not aware of. You
seem also to have overlooked the circumstance that there are, besides Die



WORCESTER'S -DICTIONARIES.                        13
tionaries, other sources for obtaining words, which are open to me, as well
as to you; and if my success in finding words out of Dictionaries should bear
as good a comparison with yours as it seems to bear in finding the words in
question in them (I only put the case hypothetically), it would not appear
very wonderful if I were'able to find the few remaining words without any
assistance from your labors.  Of the hundred and twenty-one words, you
have given authorities, in your Dictionary, for only thirty-nine; but I can,
without going out of my own library, furnish authorities, in all cases different from yours, for upwards of a hundred of them.
With respect to your inquiry, how many or'which words I borrowed from
you, I have already said that I did not know that a single one was inserted
on your sole authority., I do not affirm this to have been the fact, for I am
aware that oversights of this sort may happen; but if any have been'so
inserted, I sincerely regret the circumstance, and will engage to erase from
my Dictionary every word that you will prove to have been thus inserted.
But if I saw in your Dictionary a word with which I was familiar, or which
I knew was in established use, or found in respectable' authors, I regarded it
as a word belonging, not exclusively to any individual, but to all who write
and speak the language, to be used by them on all proper occasions, even
though it was not to be found in any Dictionary but yours. Take, for
example, the very common compound word semi-annual, one in your list
which is not to be found in any of the English Dictionaries that I have
examined, and you are entitled to the merit, so far as I know, of having
been the first to insert this word in a Dictionary; yet you cannot doubt that
i was familiar with this word before your Dictionary was published; and as
I have had occasion to use it repeatedly in my other publications, I thought
myself authorized to insert it also.in my Dictionary. All the words in your
own Dictionary were surely to be found in Dictionaries previously published,
or had been previously used by other persons, except such as you coined or
stamped anew, in order to enrich or embellish the language;, and with
regard to all words which owed their origin or new form to you, such as
ammony, bridegoom, canail, ieland, naivty, nightmaar, prosopopy, &c., it has
been my intention scrupulously to avoid them, as being your own property,
and I have not even inserted them  in my Vocabulary of Words of Various
Orthography, being willing that you should forever have the entire and
exclusive possession and use of them.. There is a considerable number of
words in my Dictionary which are not to be found in yours; yet they have
all, I believe, had the sanction of respectable usage: I can therefore claim
no exclusive property in them; and you are perfectly welcome, as I have
before intimated to you, to have them all inserted in your Dictionary.
Should you be disposed, sir, to pursue the examination of my Dictionary
further, and honor me with any more of your inquiries, I will attend to them
as promptly as my engagoments may render it convenient.
Having paid such attention to your request as my engagements have permitted, and answered your inquiry, in some measure, I trust, to your satisficetion, I would now, sir, respectfully make a request of you, which is, that
you ivould be so good as to inform me whether the charges against me in the
Worcester Palladium  were occasioned by any statements made by you, or
whether you have ever made, or are now ready to make, any such statements.
Your compliance with this request will oblige
Your humble servant,
J. ]E. WORCESTER.
Dr. Worcester in another appendix adds:
It is no part of my design to commend my own Dictionary, or to disparage
any other. But my purpose has been to defend myself against the false
2




14             WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
charges which have been widely circulated throughout the country, withi an
intention to do me injury, and which great numbers, as I understand, have
been made to believe.
A part of the correspondence' between Dr. Webster and myself has been
given in the preceding pages; and I have been advised to bring forward the
whole of it, which would probably not be desired by the friends of Dr. Webster; and I might add other things relative to the subject; but Iwish to do
nothing more than the case would seem to require. I would have it understood that I do not shrink from the strictest scrutiny in this matter. I will
not now go into the inquiry whether, in preparation of the last edition of
Dr. Webster's Dictionary, an abstinence fiom the use of mine was observed
equal to that which I practised in relation to Webster's.  Greater liberty
than I used may have been taken without causing any complaint from me. *
The foregoing correspondence shows conclusively that J]r. Worcester is not indebted in the least to Mr. Webster for his " skill in Dictionary-making," notwithstanding the assertion of the Messrs. Merriam;
and that he did not make an improper use of Mr. Webster's Dictionary
in preparing his own.  It also establishes a fact, in reference to M3r.
Webster's knowledge of English Dictionaries, which needs no commentary fromn us.
In 1846 Mr. Worcester completed his c" Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language," in the preface of which he took the
precaution to make the following statement: " With respect to Webster's JDictionay, which the compiler several years since abridged, he
is not aware of having taken a single word, or the definition bf a word,
frorm that work, in tFhe preparation of this."  And yet this precaution,
as we have shown, has failed to protect him from a repetition of the
slanders which had been previously heaped upon him, and which he had
so ably and completely refuted.  Nor have these slanders been solely
confined to this country.  In a recent advertisement of the Messrs.
Merriarm, we notice the following elegant extract:
iMr. Worcester, having been employed by Dr. Webster or his family to
abridge the American Dictionary of the English Language, some years afterwards, and subsequently to Dr. Webster's death, in presenting to the public
a Dictionary of his own, of the same size as the Abridgment prepared by
him of Webster, says, in his preface, that he " is not aware of having taken
a single word, or the definition of a word," from Webster, in the preparation
of his work.
Now mark this fact. An edition of Worcester's Dictionary has recentlybeen published in London, and sought to be pushed there, in which the paragraph we have cited is carefully suppressed, and is advertised as " Webster's Critical and Pronouncing Dictionary, &ec., enlarged and revised by
Worcester."  On the title-page Webster is placed first, in large type, and
Worcester follows in another line, in smaller type, and the book is lettered
on the back, "Webster's and Worcester's Dictiontary!" This text, we think,
needs no commentary.




WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.                          15
We think it does.  If the reader will examine a pamphlet, recently
prepared  by Dr. Worcester, entitled  "A  Gross Literary Fraud
Exposed, relating to the Publication of WVorcester's Dictionary in
London," he cannot fail to perceive that this is, in the language of
Washington Irving, "a bookseller's trick," to manufacture a reputation in London for Dr. Webster as a lexicographer, at the expense of
Dr. Worcester.  Publishing Worcester's Dictionary  in England as
Webster's may account for some of the flattering notices which Webster's
Dictionary has recently received from that country.
In 1847 Messrs. G. & C. Merriam  published L"Webster's Quarto
Dictionary," edited by Professor Goodrich.  The very announcement
of the work was the signal for a renewed attack upon Dr. Worcester.
It was commenced by an article in the American Review, published at
New York; the reputed author of which is the " PrOrESSo  PORTER,"
whose; opinions upon the comparative merits of Worcester's and Webster's Dictionaries the Messrs. Merriam so often quote.  The character
of the article may be inferred from Dr. Worcester's allusion to it in his
recent pamphlet, as follows:
With respect to the manner in which my Dictionary has generally been
noticed in Reviews and Literary Journals, so far as I have seen such notices,
I have reason to be entirely satisfied.  There is, however, an article upon it
in the American Review, published in New York (written, as I have been
informed, by a Professor at New Haven, at the time when the new edition
of Dr. Webster's Dictionary was preparing at that place), which is in
remarkable contrast to any other review of the work that I have seen. The
reputed author of this article has been employed by the publishers of Dr.
Webster's Dictionary as a public advocate of that work; and his notice of
mine is so much to their purpose, that they have seen fit to insert a great
part of it in their Advertising Pamphlet. Considering the circumstances
under which this article was written, and the manifest object of it, such of
the alleged imperfections in the Dictionary as are founded in truth are not
greater or more numerous than might reasonably be expected.
As a specimen of the candor and truthfulness of the writer of this review,
I quote a part of what he says in relation to what the author of the Dictionary has done with respect to words differently pronounced by different
orthoepists: " He has," says the reviewer, " collected and attached to every
important word every method of pronouncing it that has ever been recommended by a writer, whether great or small, conceited or well-informed,
judicious or affected."
lNouk, the following is the true statement of what is done, in the Dictionary,
in relation to words differently pronounced by different orthodpists, as may
be seen on page 24: "The English authorities most freqnently cited in thi
volume are Sheridan, Walker, Perry, Jones, Enfield, Fulton and Knight,
Jameson, Knowles, Smart, and Reid, all of whom are authors of Pronouncing Dictionaries. In addition to these, various other English lexicographers
and orthoepists are frequently brought forward, as Bailey, Johnson. Kenrick, Ash, Dyche, Barclay, Entick, Scott, Nares, Maunder, Crabb, and
several others; besides the distinguished American lexicographer, Dr.
Webster. "




1    ~6       WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
The war thus commenced against Dr. Worcester and his Dictionaries
has been prosecuted by the Messrs. Merriam, with but little cessation,
to the present time. We might fill a volume, by following them
through all their misrepresentations; but we have controverted enough
of them to convince the reader that most of their statements have no
foundation in truth.  They have chosen to depart from the usual honorable modes of, transacting business, and, instead of relying upon the
merits of the work in which they are interested, to extend its circulation, have resorted to unjust personal attacks upon an author of similar
publications, who has never, -in any instance, given them  cause of
offence. Having repelled these personal attacks, and proved the falsity
of their charges, we leave the reader to characterize their conduct as
he may deem proper.
We cannot, however, forbear making the inquiry, whether, in the
preparation of the last edition of Webster's Quarto Dictionary, an
abstinence from the use of Worcester's Dictionaries was observed, equal
to that which was practised by Dr. Worcester in relation to Webster's.
If the reader will take the trouble to compare the Dictionary originally
prepared by Dr. Webster, and published in 1828, with Messrs. Merriam's present edition, he will not fail to perceive how much the latter
has been enriched by words which are to be found in Dr. Worcester's
Dictionaries, but not in any of the editions of Dr. Webster published
previously to them, to say nothing of the three thousand words which
Mr. Worcester introduced into the octavo edition of Webster. It is
known to the public that Mr. Worcester spent much time and labor in
preparing a list of Modern Geographical Names, which he inserted in
his Comprehensive Dictionary in 1830, and also in the Universal and
Critical Dictionary, in 1846. This formed an original and valuable
feature in his Dictionaries, a similar list never having been published
before in any Dictionary in this country. How faithfully this'list has
been imitated in the Messrs. Merriam's Quarto Edition of Webster,
and more recently in one of the smaller Dictionaries which they advertise, may be seen by a comparison of the works. We could instance
numerous other features, in all the recent editions of Webster's Dictionaries, in which Mr.' Worcester's " skill in Dictionary-making," to
say the least, has been very highly complimented; but we will not
weary the patience of the reader by presenting them.
It is no part of our purpose to reflect upon the literary character of
Dr. Webster. He devoted many years of his life to the preparation of
his Quarto Dictionary, which in many respects was considered a valuable accession to this department of literature. In his definitions he




WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.                        17
displayed much industry, and gave evidence of severe and patient
research; but in orthography and pronunciation his work was regarded by literary men as a decided failure.  He mistook the province
of a lexicographer; which is to record the, language as it is used by
the best speakers and writers, and attempted to introduce innovations which the public refused to sanction, and which his successors
have, for the most part, been obliged to abandon. The present generation are but little acquainted with his efforts in this department.
MInly of those who profess to follow him as their standard have never
seen his works.  His Dictionaries (those actually made by him) have
now become very rare, and are but little known. They can be found
in some of our public libraries, and in the hands of antiquarians, where
they are shown as literary curiosities.
The Messrs. Merriam publish to the world the following elegant and
dignified extract:
The   vwh.ining  of Worcester's advocates is with regard to the spelling
and pronunciation of a few words, which use is every year rendering nearer
and nearer, and will soon completely render, Websterian; for the road to
reach it is nothing in comparison to that already passed.
That the reader may judge for himself how far " use is every year
rendering nearer and nearer " " the road " to " WTebsterianz " orthography, we subjoin a list of words selected from Webster's.Quarto Dictionary of 1828, Worcester's Dictionaries, and the Messrs. Merriam's
edition of 1854.  The words selected from  the edition of 1828,
as prepared by D., Webster himself, may be regarded as pure Websterianz orthography.  How far the editor of the Messrs. Merriam's
edition has abandoned the innovations which Mr. Webster attempted
to introduce, and how implicitly he has followed the true standard
of orthography as represented by Dr. Worcester, may be seen by a
comparison of the following columns:
Webster.              Worcester.              Webster.
Edition of 1828. -  First published in 1830.  Edition of 1854
Aker
Acre                   Acre                   Acre
Brunet
Brunette               Brunette               Brunette
Duse                                          Deuce
Deuce                  Deuce                  Deuse
Duse
2*




18             V WORCESTER S DICTIONARIES.
Webster.            Worcester.             Webster.
Edition of 1828.   First published in 1830.  Edition of 1854.
Gamlnut              Gamut -               Gamut
Hagard               Haggard               Haggard
Leather
Lether               Leather               Leather
Lodestone
Loadstone            Loadstone             Loadstone
Pontif               Pontiff               Pontiff
Redout               Redoubt               Redoubt
Rout                 Route                 Route
Sherif               Sheriff               Sheriff
Maneuver             Manceuvre             Maneuver
Manoeuvre
Melasses                                   Molasses
Molasses             Molasses             3Melasses
3eland                                     Island
Island               Island                Ieland
Canail               Canaille              Canaille
Suveran
Sovereign            Sovereign             Sovereign
Spread
Spred                Spread'               Spread
Subtil               Subtile               Subtile
Tarif                Tariff                Tariff
Turnep               Turnip                Turnip
Zink                 Zinc                  Zinc
Furlow               Furlough              Furlough
Bridegoom
Bridegroom           Bridegroom           Bridegroom
Bild
Build                Build                 Build
Burlesk
Burlesque            Burlesque-            Burlesque
Chints               Chintz               Chintz
Crum                 Crumb                Crumb
Crum
Turkey
Turky                Turkey               Turkey
Teree
Tierce               Tierce                Tierce




WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.                       19
Webster.             Worcester.             Webster.
Edition of 1828.   First published in 1830.  Edition of 1854.
Tongue
Tung                  Tongue                Tongue
Thumb
Thum                  Thumb                 Thumb
Thred
Thread                Thread                Thread
Vise                  Vice                  Vice
Feather
Fether                Feather               Feather
Encyclopedia
Encyclopedy.          Encyclopedia          Encyclopedia
Neighbor
Nehboor               Neighbor              Neighbor
Nightmar              Nightmare             Nightmare
Ranedeer
Raindeer
Reindeer              Reindeer              Reindeer
Vultur
Vulture               Vulture               Vulture
We might greatly extend this list, andl inl addition to it present the
varied orthography of the same words, as found in the different editions of Dr. Webster's several works, but we have neither leisure nor
patience for the task.  By comparing the words with each other, as
found in his first Spelling Book, his Dictionaries of 1806, of 1817, of
1828, of 1840, and in his New Spelling Book, the reader would be
led to infer that he actually labored to see how inconsistent he could
be with himself.  He would also perceive that, instead of forcing
Dr. Webster's innovations in orthography upon the country, his successors have been compelled to recede in every succeeding edition,
approaching "nearer and nearer " to the standard as represented by
Dr. Worcester.
The present editions of his works, however, contain too many innovations to receive the sanction of literary men, and cannot, therefore, be
considered a safe standard for the instruction of youth, even if they
contained but one form of spelling; but, in abandoning sonime of the
changes which Dr. Webster attempted to introduce, his successors have,
in numerous cases, to avoid the appearance of inconsistency, retained
the false orthography in connection with the true, which can only tend
to confuse and perplex the learner.




20             WORCESTER' S  DICTIONARIES.
The Boston Daily Advertiser, in commenting upon this subject, says,
"It is true that it is stated in the pamphlet before us,' that the spelling of the words to which any objection has been anticipated is given
not in a single, but in a double form, so that a choice is left between
the two. The person who opens to one of those words finds it spelled
after two methods, each of which is given in the same type, as they
stand side by side.' The privilege of choosing between the two spellings, thus allowed, immediately suggests the happy state of the little
boy, who, when he asked the menagerie-keeper which animal was the
elephant and which the monkey, was answered,' Either you please, my
dear; you have paid your money, and may take your choice.'"
That the public may become acquainted with Webster's orthography,
as corrected, amended, and authorized by his heirs, in the Dictionary
now claimed to be the STANDARD AUTI-IORITY, the following illustration
is taken from the Boston Mercantile Journal:
The English language might be greatly improved were there any center
around which the people could rally, or had we a few men of sufficient caliber to compel the mass to imitate them.  Unluckily, few scholars have
reached a hight sufficiently  elevated to commniand attention, or, having
reached it, they have become the most rigid conservatives.  The somber
specter of injured usage seems to rise and warn them not to attempt to remold
what time has modeled, and covered with venerable oxyd. Were all the
anomalies of our Iunequaled orthography collected in one- head, so that one
stroke of a saber could sever them all, and send them to repose forever in the
sepulcher of awkward and perhaps useless things, one would be marvelously
wvillfull not to be ready to strain every fiber to make the stroke effectual; but
it is trifling to kill a snake joint by joint, verteber by verteber, as Dr. Webster proposes. It is to be regretted that the noble writers who perfected our
language, and have rarely beein equaled by the best of their successors, did
not lay down rules for the reduction of all anomalous words to a uniform
rule, as they might have done, had they been thoughtful; whereas they only
fixed irregularity, and, by the luster of their talents, brought on a tlralldon,
the end of which no earthly traveler can foretell. I am not a worshiper of
antiquity, but I cannot lay aside habits as easily as a bird molts its feathers.
It is an oqfense to me to see old usages set aside or canceled, under pretense
of reform, when the reform, if it be one, is too partial to do any good. The
theater of a man's actions may be very circumscribed, but the humblest can
practice what is just, in language as well as in conduct, and be a counselor
and a defense to the weak and erring. To fulfill our duty, we should
endeavor to instill into other minds, and exhibit in our own, a love of truth
and simplicity; for, as niter is powerless until mixed with carbon, so virtue is
useless until by blending with society it finds objects, is tried, and becomes,
invigorated.
This is a specimen of the" WVeb~sterian" orthography, which the
BMessrs. Merriam are vainly attempting to force upon the schools of the
country; but intelligent and educated teachers will never adopt it. We
quote again from the article in the Advertiser, because its opinions
upon this subject so exactly accord with our own.  "The whole matter




WORCESTER'IS  DICTIONARIES.                    21.
is very simple. A great many people like Webster's Dictionary for its
definitions, its etymological information, &c.  Veryfew like it for its
spelling- there is scarcely a single word in favor of its spelling among
all the praises of it. Its value as a Dictionary depends upon the relative importance he assigns to these two features.  It naturally enough
happens that men of eminence in the literary world, who have already
learned how to spell, and who are in the habit of referring to a Dictionary for every other purpose except that of ascertaining the orthography of words, are willing to overlook its deficiency in this respect,
and speak in its praise.  If they take the trouble to mention that they
do not follow its orthography, the Messrs. Merriam  can suppress that
part of their remarks, as they did in the case of Washington Irving.
Wlhether they mention it or not, in point of fact, generally speaking,
they do not follow the orthography.
For young persons, as we have said, or those who are not so perfectly grounded in orthography as to be in no danger of falling into
error from  seeing frequently, in a book of reference, words wrongly
spelt, its use cannot be recommended, and is not, even by those who
are willing to speak well of the work in other respects."
It is a fact worthy of mention, that, although many literary men in
the country have made courteous acknowledgments to the Messrs Merriam for an elegantly bound copy of the Quarto Dictionary, and spoken
in complimentary terms of it as a book of reference, not one of them
having the slightest claim to eminence in scholarship has in his published works adopted Webster's orthography as a standard.  Take, for
instance, the beautiful edition of the late Hon. Daniel WVebster's works,
recently issued by the well-known publishing house of Messrs. Little &
Brown. Mr. Webster adopts Worcester's orthography.   So with
Everett, Irving, Bancroft, Prescott, Longfellow, Sparks, Hillard,
Ticknor, Hawthorne, Bryant, Whipple, and others. Even Messrs. G.
& C. Merriam themselves do not adopt the "IWebsterian" orthography.
If the reader will examine the following law-books published by them,
and bearing their imprint on the title-page, namely, " Chitty on Contracts," " Chitty on Pleading," and "' Chitty on Bills," he will perceive
that WORCESTER'S STANDARD OF ORTHOGRAPHY iS implicitly followed in
every line. Thus we see that the Messrs. Merriam, while urging Webster's Dictionary upon the public in different sections of the country, as
they say to secure " uniformity of orthography and pronunciation for-the
millions that are to constitute this vast republic," in publishing a series
of law-books, which are to be. used exclusively by educated mzen, have
repudiated Webster's orthography, and followed Worcester's standard.




22            WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.
In January, 1852, Governor Wood, of Ohio, in a message to the Legislature of that State, said: "In Massachusetts every school is fur.
nished by the State with Webster's Dictionary, as the standard work
of orthography and pronunciation,"- and the publishers of Webster's
Dictionary copied this statement into their list of recommendations.
WVe know not from -what source Governor Wood obtained his information upon this subject; but the statement is incorrect, and we confess our surprise that the publishers of Webster's Dictionary, who reside
in Massachusetts, and who must have known it to be so, should have
indorsed the assertion by giving publicity to it.
We noticed several other statements in the Ohio journals, in refer.
ence to the use of Webster's Dictionary in the schools of Massachusetts,
which we did not understand at the time, but which have since been
accounted for by the fact that a resolution was afterwards introduced
into the Ohio Legislature, and actually passed in the Senate, to introduce Webster's Quarto Dictionary into the public schools of that State.
But in the House of Representatives, after this "bookseller's trick"
had been exposed, the resolution was defeated by a large majority.
We publicly informed Governor Wood, at the time, that in Massachusetts the State has no authority to prescribe text-books for schools, as
this power is vested in the school committees of the several cities and
towns, and that Webster's Dictionary is not used as the standard work
for orthography and pronunciation in every school, as will be seen by
the following certificate:
Boston, May 12, 1852.
I hereby certify that on the -14th day of August, 1834, WORCESTER'S DICTIONARY was introduced into the grammar schools of Boston. From that
time to the present, the Dictionaries of this author have been continued, by
the school committee, as the STANDARD AUTHORITY in the public schools of
the city.
Attest:           EDWARD CAPEN,
Secretary of the School Committee.
The Messrs. Merriam, instead of retracting the statement which they
had indorsed, say, in their Advertising Pamphlet, " Gov. Wood, of Ohio,
in his annual message to the Legislature, in January, 1852, in considering the educational interests of that State, adverted to what Massachusetts and New York had done in placing Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary in their schools as their standard work, and spoke of its
being thus regarded almost universally where the English language is
spoken. The publishers of Worcester controvert this, affirming that
Worcester's School Dictionaries are used in most of the principal cities
and towns throughout the State," &c.




WORCESTERl' S DICTIOT        ARIES.               23
WVe now repeat that the statement of Gov. Wood, in his message,
namely, that " in MIassachusetts every school is furnished by the State
with TWrebster's Dictionary as the standard work of orthography and
pr'onunciation," is incorrect.  G-ov. Wood had doubtless been misinformed, but the Messrs. Merriam, when they copied this statement into
their advertisement, must have known it to be untrue. We do not
intend to permit these gentlemen to evade the responsibility of meeting
our charge by misrepresenting the language we used; but we hold
them  responsible to the public for indorsing a statement which they
knew to be void of truth.
IMessrs. G. & C. Merriam have recently published an advertisement
of WVebster's Dictionary, from which we make the following extract:
In MASSACHUSETTS, where Worcester was compiled and published, the
Legislature having offered to each school district, with no cost to the district
in either case, and nothing to control its choice but the merits of the works,
a copy of Webster or Worcester, at its option, THREE THOUSAND AND THIRTYFIVE of the districts, within the first few months, ordered WEBSTER, and but
one hundred and five took Worcester -TH'IRTY TO ONE selecting Webster as
their STANDARD  WORK.
The following explanation will show, that, in the selection of so large
a number of Webster's. Dictionaries in preference to Worcester's, the
several school committees were not wholly influenced by the comparative " merits of the works," and that they did not select Webster's
Dictionary " as their STANDARD WORK."
In May, 1850, the Legislature of Massachusetts passed the following
order:
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Board of Education be, and he hereby
is, authorized to furnish each district and other public school in the commonwealth, except primary schools, a copy of Noah Webster's Unabridged
Quarto Dictionary, or Joseph E. Worcester's Octavo Dictionary, at the
option of the school committee of each town, and that the expense thereof be
paid out of the school fund: Provided, that the said Webster's Dictionary
may be obtained at a cost not exceeding four dollars, and said Worcester's
Dictionary at a cost of not more than two dollars. [Approved by the Governor, May 2, 1850.]
The several cities and towns of the Commonwealth, availing themselves of the liberality of the Legislature, supplied their schools, in compliance with the resolve, and more of Webster's than Worcester's were
called for. The reason for this is obvious. The books were offered to
the several school districts free of cost; and the school committees
were left to decide whether they would receive a copy of Webster's
Quarto Dictionary, which cost the State four dollars, or a copy of
Worcester's Octavo, which cost but two. Many of the committees




24            WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
selected Webster's because their schools were already supplied with
Worcester's; others took Webster's from the State, and voted to purchase Worcester's; and we doubt not there were some who chose Webster's because they valued a present which costfour dollars more than
one which cost only two. The school committees of Boston and Cambridge, for instance, voted to receive Webster's Dictionary from the'State, in accordance with the resolve; but they did not adopt it " as
their standard work."  They accepted Webster's Dictionary as a gift
from the State; but they voted to purchase Worcester for their
6STANDARD AUTHORITY;" and we shall furnish testimony that it is used
as such.
We wish it to be distinctly understood that, in reviewing the statements made by the Messrs. Merriam, we do not mean to speak in terms of
disparagement of Webster's Quarto Dictionary as a book of reference.
WTe regard it as a valuable work, and should be happy to see a copy
of it in every school-room in the country; but we do not consider it a
safe guide in orthography and pronunciation, and in this opinion we
are sustained by the best practical educators in the country. Some of
the distinguished teachers of the Boston schools, for instance, have
furnished letters highly commendatory of the book as a work of reference, but all concur in signing the following certificate:
- Boston, September 13, 1852.
Worcester's Dictionaries are used in our schools as the STANDARD AUTHOR-!TY IN THE ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION of the English language.
FRANCIS GARDNER,.... Latin School.
THOMAS SHERWIN,.... English High School.
XW. H. SEAVEY,.....    Eliot School.
SAMUEL L. GOULD,... Franklin School.
SAMUEL SWAN,.        Mayhew School.
SAMUEL BARRETT,.....Hawes School.
JOHN C. DORE,         ~         Boylston School.
CHARLES KIMBALL,                Boylton School.
A. ANDREWS,.... Bowdoin School
GEORGE ALLEN, JR.,...  Hancock School.
CORNELIUS WALKER,
REUBEN SWAN,
REUBEN SWAN,           @... Wells School.
JOSEPH  HALE, 
RICHARD  G. PARKER. Johnson Shool.
HENRY WILLIAMS, JR.,.  Winthrop School.
H. H. LINCOLN,                                     --
ISAAC F. SHEPARD,                Lyman School.
JOSIAH A. STEARNS,ather Schoo
JONATHAN BATTLES,. *. Mather School.
JOSHUA  BATES, JR.,... Brimmer School.
BENJAMIN DREW, }  * * *. Phillips School.
BENJAMIN DREW, I..




WORCESTER' S  DICTIONARIES.                      25
GEORGE B. HYDE,                   Dwight School.
JAMES A. PAGE,                    Dwght School.
J. D. PHILBRICK,.. Quincy School.
FREDERICK  CRAFTS,... Bigelow School.
J. P. AVERILL,)
J. F. NOURSEB   }       ~, *. *   Chapman School.
The truth is, that Webster's Quarto Dictionary, although a valuable
book of reference in many respects for teachers, is not a convenient
book, on account of its size, for the daily use of children; for good
order cannot be maintained in a large school where children are constantly leaving their seats to consult a Dictionary. They should be
provided with a smaller work as a hand-book, to be consulted as occasion may require. In support of this opinion we quote the following
extract from the Annual Report of the School Committee of Boston
for 1851:
Instances of mispronunciation also occurred; and, on calling for a Dictionary, none was at hand. A fine edition of Webster's large work lay on
the master's table in another story, but, for all practical uses, where it was
then wanted, it might as well have been in Texas. It is recommended that
all the teachers be required to have Dictionaries in their several rooms. It
is also proposed that all the younger pupils be required to have Worcester's
Primary Dictionary, and the more advanced pupils his Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary. These books are very cheap, and for
the price are the most valuable school books in the English language.
The pupils of the first and second classes of all the grammar schools
in Boston are now required, by a vote of the School Committee, to have
a copy of WORCESTER's  DICTIONARY as a hand-book for daily use; and
the following extract, from the Report of the Annual Visiting Committee for 1853, will show with what success it is used:
In some schools, Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary was upon every
pupil's desk, and the prompt replies showed the good'use that had been
made of it. We found in one school a practice which we would recommend
our teachers to pursue. In every reading lesson a sentence was given out
for definition, and every word was defined in course by the class; and thus,
all those little common words, such as if, with, in, as, &c., of which we all
think we know the meaning, till we are called to define them, were considered by the pupils, their origin sought out, the manner shown in which,
from being first verbs or nouns, they came to be employed as connectives,
their appropriate uses taught, and also the relation which they sustain to
other words in the language.
The Messrs. Merriam publish a letter from Mr. S. N. Taylor, Principal of Phillips Academy, comnmendatory of Webster's Dictionary,
and they inform the public that this letter is concurred in by Mr.
ELBRIDOE SMITH, Master of the Cambridge High School; yet the
3




26      ~     17 WORCESTER' S DICTIONAIRIES.riader will see, by the following certificate, that Mr. Smith, as well as
all the teachers in Cambridge, adopt Worcester as their standard.
FROM THE PRINCIPALS OF THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Cambridge, October 18, 1852.
Worcester's Dictionaries are used in our schools as the STANDARD AUTHORITY IN TIlE ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION of the English language.
ELBRIDGE SMITH,.... High School.
BENJ. W. ROBERTS,.....          Broadway School.
AARON B. MAGOUN,.... Harvard School.
ALVAH C. SMITH.... Mason School.
DANIEL MANSFIELDW,..            Washington School.
WILLIAM  H. LADD,....Shepard School.
J. M. LASSEL,..P. Putnam School.
N. K. NOBLE,...... Otis School.
The Messrs. Merriam  inform  us that PROF. S. S. GREENE, Superintendent of Public Schools in Providence, also concurred in the letter
of Mr. Taylor; and, to make the fact more impressive, republish Mro
Taylor's letter in the same pamphlet as Mr. Greene's, and with the broad
seal of Rhode Island annexed.  Professor Greene is the author of the
best work on Analysis in the English language, and the Messrs Merriam doubtless very correctly supposed that his opinion would be highly
esteemed by practical teachers throughout the country; but, unfortunately for them, Mr. Greene does not consider Webster's Dictionary as
his standard.  He has followed Worcester's standard of orthography in
all his grammars, and has kindly sent us the following certificate:
I regard Worcester's Dictionary as a STANDARD WORK ON THE ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION of the English language, and as such I keep it in
constant use.                                    S. S. GREENE.
Nor is this all the testimony from Rhode Island. Read the following from the Secretary of the School Committee of Providence:
Providence, R. I., May 10, 1852.
I hereby certify that Worcester's series of Dictionaries is, and has been
for a number of years, the STANDARD AUTHORITY in the public schools of this
city.                                     EDWARD R. YOUNG.
MR. GEORGE B. EMERSON, a member of the Mlassachlusetts Board of
Education, one of the most successful and distinguished educators in
the United States, and a person whose opinion will be regarded with
great interest by all practical educators, has kindly sent us the following letter for publication:
Boston, January 31, 1853.
MESSRS. JENKS, HiCKLING & SWAN.
GENTLEMEN: YOU ask my opinion of Worcester's Dictionary. I have
constantly used it since it was first published, and have always had near me,




WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.                       27
at the same time, the other best English Dictionaries I could find. For
all the common uses of a Dictionary I consider it the very best I have
ever seen. The author indulges in no whims in spelling or pronouncing, or
as to the meaning of words. In each of these particulars he follows the best
authorities, and, where there is room for doubt, he gives the various opinions, and leaves the student to judge for himself. I consider it a great merit
in this Dictionary, especially for the use of a people remote from the original
source of the language, that it does nothing to corrupt the language by giving authority to vulgarisms or provincialisms. On the contrary, the use of
it tends to keep the language pure in its vocabulary, and uniform and consistent with the best English usage in spelling and in pronunciation.
Respectfully yours,
GEORGE B. EMERSON.
At a meeting of the Essex County Association of Teachers, recently
held at Lynn, Mass., the following certificate was cheerfully signed by
some of its prominent members:
Lynn, October 16, 1852.
Worcester's Dictionaries are used in our schools as the STANDARD AUTHORITY IN THE ORTHOGRAPHY, AND PRONUNCIATION of the English language.
J. S. EATON,.... Phillips Academy, Andover.
H. BRICKETT,...Brown High School, Newb'yp't.
M. P. CASE,.   Female High School, Newb'yp't.
THOS. BARTLETT, i. Grammar Schools.
N. A. MOULTON,' 
C. S. PENNELL,...  High School, Lawrence.
JOHN BATCHELDER,)
JOS. PEABODY, JR.,.. Grammar Schools, Lynn.
M. W. STEVENS,         )
JAMES H. DAVIS,  
WILLIAM  W. BURR    Amesbury Academy.
WILLIAM W. BURR,
C. E. BRADFORD,..  Danvers.
DAVID L. BARTLETT,. Salisbury.
The School Committee of Dorchester accepted Webster's Quarto
Dictionary from the State, for a part of their schools; but the teachers
do not consider it their 1" standard authority," as will be seen by the
following testimony:
Dorchester, February 3, 1854.
Worcester's Dictionaries are used in our schools as the STANDARD AUTHORITY IN THE ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION of the English language.
WM. J. ROLFE,...... High School.
FRANCIS B. SNOWS....Adams School.
ELWELL WOODBURY,... Everett School.
ROBERT VOSE, JR.,..... Gibson School.
JOHN KNEELAND,.Mather School.
ELBRIDGE G. EMERY,..             Norfolk School.
CHARLES F. PATCH,.... Washington School.
ISAAC SWAN,....... Winthrop School.
We might extend this list by publishing similar certificates in our
possession from teachers in other places; but we think we have clearly




28.WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
shown that the several school committees who selected Webster's Dictionary for their schools were not wholly influenced by the superior
merits of the book, and that they did not select it " AS THEIR STANDARD
WORK."  We have also established the fact that Worcester's Dictionaries
are used as the authority for orthography and pronunciation in the
best schools in Massachusetts and also in Rhode Island.
Messrs. G. & C. Merriam publish extracts from letters received from
booksellers in some of the towns in " Western Massachusetts," to show
that more of Webster's Dictionaries than Worcester's are sold by them.
We cannot better reply than by publishing an extract from  an article
in the Boston Transcript of October 12, 1850:
It may be remarked that Massachusetts has never been a great patron of
Webster's school books; and the abstract of the school returns, at the office
of the Secretary of the Board of Education, shows that they are used only
in the poorest schools in this Commonwealth. The lowest towns in the State,
in point of appropriations for school purposes, use Webster's books; and we
are informed, by an intelligent authority, that in several counties the towns
which foot the lists use Webster's books; and that the abstract referred to
does not show that a single town in the State, above mediocrity in point of
appropriations, uses them.
It is not necessary to draw the inference from these facts. Some of these
books are of low price, and immense efforts are made to sell them all; and
if these efforts are successful, and this argues their superiority, then the same
kind of reasoning, applied in another direction, would place sarsaparilla at
the head of the materia medica, and exalt Dr. Townsend to that eminence
among the medical faculty which the admirers of Noah Webster seek for
him among lexicographers and book-makers.
In speaking of the action of the Legislature of the State of New
York, providing for the supply of Webster's Quarto Dictionary for the
common schools in that State, the Messrs. Merriam  in one of their
pamphlets say, "WORCESTER WAS NOT ONCE PROPOSED OR THOUGHT OF."
We replied that we knew not what i-light have been the " thoughts"
of the members of the New York Legislature upon this subject; but
we remembered to have read with great interest, at the time, the following able report from the Hon. James W.,Beekman, Chairman of the
Committee on Literature.  Mr. Beekman is an accomplished scholar;
and whether he "thought of Worcester" or not, in preparing his
report, we leave the public to judge.
STATE OF NEW  YORK.
No. 89.
In Senate, July 7, 1851.
REPORT
Of Minority of Committee on Literature in reference to the purchase by
School Districts of Webster's Dictionary.
The Chairman of the Committee on Literature, unable to agree with the




WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.                        29
other members of that committee in recommending Webster's Dictionary ps
suitable to be purchased by school districts throughout the State, reports,That the importance of placing a proper standard of orthography and language in the hands of the million of children at this time attending the common schools of New York, is with difficulty appreciated. First teachings are
hard to unlearn, and the spelling and pronunciation acquired at the primary
schools are likely to remain fixed for life. The admitted objection to introducing by authority any book as a text book into a system of schools, which
owe their excellence to a wholesome rivalry among their various boards of
trustees, applies with ten-fold force to a Dictionary. A recommendation from
the Secretary of State, in his capacity of Superintendent of Common Schools,
has sufficient force; and it is eminently proper that in his discretion he
should suggest to the districts the names of books which his leisure and
opportunities enable him to criticize. But when the Legislature, by enactment, undertakes to say that the library money shall be expended for the
purchase of a certain work, and that, unless orders to the contrary are sent
to the central department, that book shall be paid for by the State, and its
cost kept back out of the library fund due to each district, serious mischief
must result.
One successful application to the State on the part of a publisher will open
the way for another, until presently the whole fund will be paid out, by
authority, at Albany, without allowing the smallest cho;ce to local trustees.
A premium for importunity is thus offered, which must assuredly soon fill
the few shelves of the district library with trash as vile as any which the
ignorance of rural book buyers, as alleged by the friends of Webster, could
select. In the case now presented to the Senate, the work proposed to be
sent by authority into the twelve thousand school-houses is one concerning
which men of letters are far from being agreed. The purest writers of English refuse to admit its claims as the standard. By immense exertions a large
array of names, not unknown to fame, has been collected in recommendation
of the book. Those favorable notices, however, relate rather to its convenience as a reference than to its value as a Dictionary. Sir Richard Phillips' Million of Facts is an invaluable vade mecum, but is far from an English Dictionary. WVebster packs together a mass of words and phrases in
almost every language, and calling the whole " An American Dictionary of
the English Language," we are asked to receive it as the best Dictionary
extant- as promoting great reforms in orthography, and as shedding new
light upon etymology.
It is assumed that Webster is an acknowledged standard of the language.
High authority may be adduced to the contrary, but it may be well to say
here that Webster has published four or five Dictionaries, all differing from
each other. These successive editions do not advance upon the principle
first assumed, namely, that of leaving out all superfluous letters, and introducing a succinctness and terseness of spelling which would commend itself
to universal esteem by its convenience and neatness.  On the contrary, the
Merriam edition, which the State now proposes to buy, retrogrades from the
orthography of the edition of 1828 and of 1845. The word build, for instance,
is spelt in both the former editions bild. A pupil in the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb lately persisted in spelling upon his slate the
word without the u, insisting that he was right; and, upon being permitted by his teacher to go to the library, at his earnest request, returned, bearing Webster open at the place, in triumph, to prove himself right. The
Merriam edition resumes the u, spelling the word build, and therefore does not
fulfil the promise on its title-page, that it contains the entire corrections and
improvements of the second edition, in two volumes royal octavo. In that
edition the spelling is " bild."  Webster is but a vacillating reformer.
"Webster," says an able critic, "began his career as a lexicographer by
3*t




30        ~     WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
spelling words as they are pronounced - aker, soee, iland, steddy, wimmen.
lether, imagin; he ended by making a Dictionaryvaluable for its definitions,
scientific terms, old and obsolete words, and generally for its etymologies -
although these were sometimes fanciful, and sometimes adapted to a specific
purpose."
No American writers of eminence spell by its rules. Neither Irving, nor
Bancroft, nor Bryant, nor Hawthorne, recognizes its authority.  The cheap'
publications of the Harpers have done more to create provincialisms - a literary evil from which America has hitherto escaped —than any one who
has not given attention to the subject would believe. Should the State of
New York add its imprimatur, we may have, ere long, expurgated editions
of the "Wars of Granada," or' of" Twice-told Tales," of the "Pilgrim's
Progress," or the-" Vicar of Wakefield," done into American prose - the
spelling curtailed, in the Bloomer style, to the most utilitarian and bandylegged proportions, and a " crebrous claudication," to use Websterian English, jingling in every line.
Washington Irving, in reply to a letter of inquiry addressed to him by the
Chairman of the Committee on Literature, says:
" Sunnyside, June 25, 1851.
"DEAR SIR: Several months since, I received from Messrs. G. & C. Merriam a
copy of their quarto edition of Webster's Dictionary. In acknowledging the receipt
of it, I expressly informed them that I did not make it my standard of orthography,
and gave them my reasons for not doing so, and for considering it aen unsafe standard for American writers to adopt. At the same time I observed the work had so
much merit in many respects that I made it quite a vade mecum.
" They had the disingenuousness to extract merely the part of my opinion which
I have underlined, and to insert it among their puffs and advertisements, as if I had
given a general and unqualified approbation of the work. I have hitherto suffered
this bookseller's trick to pass unnoticed; but your letter obliges me to point it out,
and to express my decided opinion that Webster's Dictionary is not a work advisable to be introduced'by authority' into our schools as a standard of orthography.
" I am, sir, with great respect,' Your obedient servant,
" WASHINGTON IRVING.
<" To Hon. JAMES W. BEEKIMAN,
Chairman of the Senate Committee of Literature."
Mr. Bancroft, the historian, cordially approves the opposition now made
to the introduction of any Dictionary by authority. He has never been
willing to adopt the Websterian mode of spelling.
" Webster's career," says Edward S. G-ould, in a letter to the chairman of
your committee, ".was a mistake, because based on false assunmptions. He
assumed that the language needed reformation, and that he was able to
reform it; the latter blunder being far the greater of the two. He began
forty years or more ago on the extreme of his own theory, and his first false
step was to mistake the duties of a lexicographer, whose province is to record,
not to legislate; to say What the language is, and not what it should be.
Webster assumed the right to make and alter in conformity to his own views;
and assuming that superfluous letters were an orthographical evil, and that
conformity between the spelling and the pronunciation of words was an
orthographical desideratum, he almost went to the extent of our contemporaneous phonographers.  Finding, however, on experiment, that this would
not do, that the storm of criticism he had provoked was more than he or his
book could bear, he began to modify to suit the critics. He published, in a
course of years, five different Dictionaries, all in retreat from his original
ground, and stopped modifying only when he stopped breathing; and his
literary heir and successor and son-in-law, Goodrich, thinks it strange that
everybody is not satisfied with these concessions on the part of Webster -




WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.                           31
as if a shopkeeper were to demand $5 for an article worth $1, and then,
after chaffering, and finally and gradually falling to $2.50, cite the fact of
his taking off half of this first price to prove the $2.50 must be cheap.
"The present difficulty with Webster's Dictionary is, its total want of a
principle. To spell words as they are pronounced, and strike out all superfluous letters, although radicalism and folly, is still a principle of action;
but to abandon that, and vacillate capriciously between that and the previously recognized system, is mere quackery and irresolute nonsense, and its
tendency, when at all countenanced, is what we see   a confusion in orthography such as was not previously known since the establishing of the language by Johnson.
"Webster's rules are both arbitrary and capricious.  He changes, for
example, theatre into theater, because, he says, words ending in re, adopted
from the French, must be transposed to er: yet in the derivative he transfers
the er, that is, the termination, back again to make' theatrical.' Here the
derivative does not control the primitive. Again, he changes defence into
defense, because the derivative defensive requires the s. There the derivative
does control the primitive.
"He changes distil into dlistill,'because the derivative distiller, &c.,
requires the double 1.' Here again the derivative controls the primitive;
but he does not change the forget into forgett, although the derivative forgetting, &c., requires the double tt; so that there, still again, the derivative
does not control the primitive.
"He strikes the u from mould, because it is superfluous; he strikes the u
from honour, favour, &c., because it is superfluous; but he does not strike
the o from serious, courage, &c., where it is as superfluous.  He strikes out
I from traveller, &c., because it is superfluous; yet he spells excellent, vacillate, &c., with two l's.  He spells profit with one f, yet, with the inconsistency that marks all his career, he does not strike the second f fromu proffer.
It is true he is right in this last forbearance, but he is, as everywhere else,
inconsistent.
" The sum  of the matter is, that Webster was a vain, weak, plodding
Yankee, ambitious to be an American Johnson, without one substantial qualification for the undertaking, and the American public have ignored his pretensions.  One publisher af note has adopted his orthography, because he
publishes his Dictionary, and one newspaper editor of note has done the
same thing; but beyond these two establishments, neither of which can claim
any authority as umpires in a literary question, Webster's orthography is as
unpopular as it is abominable; and I hardly know how our Legislature could
do a greater wrong to popular education than by inflicting Webster's radicalism on the rising generation."
William Cullen Bryant, whose name stands foremost among American
poets, in his journal of June 20 (New York Evening Post), says that " so
far is Webster's Dictionary from meeting with the general acceptance of
scholars and the community, that of those who, in different parts of our
country and of the world, employ our common language, that noble vehicle
of thought which we call English, with a moderate degree of attention to its
purity, there are not ten in a hundred who'accept' Webster's Dictionary as
a standard of language; nay, the majority of them have in fact no acquaintance with it."
Against such authority is opposed a list of names eminent in law, in politics, and in theology, as well as in liteiature; men whose good nature, as in
-the case of Washington Irving, led them to return a courteous acknowledgment for an elegantly-bound literary present.  We have names such as
Brougham, Daniel Webster, Thomas H. Benton, Fillmore, Polk and Zachary Taylor, a certificate signed by one hundred and four members of Congress, " that they rejoice it bids fair to become the standard Dictionary to be




32             WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES.
used by the numerous millions of people who are to inhabit the United
States."  We have a complimentary letter from  the well-known and estimable Thomas Dick, of Broughty Ferry, near Dundee; and, finally, paraded
in capitals, there is the gracious assertion of the London Times, that Webster's is " the best and most useful Dictionary of the English language ever
published."
To meet this testimony, it has been shown that men whose pursuits lead
them to estimate lexicons at their true value take views very unfavorable to
Webster; and it is not unreasonable to say that, while Presidents of the
United States and members of Congress are excellent judges of politics, clergymen equally good critics in matters ecclesiastical, and newspaper writers
competent admirers of convenient encyclopaedias, neither of these classes are
authority on a matter of literature.
It has been urged in the report, by the Senator from the 27th (Mr. Miller),
in favor of the Dictionary, that " there is no one point to which the attention
of the guardians of our schools should be directed with a more watchful or
earnest attention than to the training of all the pupils to a competent and
correct acquaintance with our mother tongue. Especial care needs to be
bestowed on this subject, in consideration of the fact that the multitude of
foreigners, with their children, whom we welcome to our shores, are all to
learn to speak and write the English language; and since many of these are
accustomed to another language at home, and often to a mixed and mongrel
dialect; we ought, as far as possible, in the district schools in which they are
educated, to give them a standard, and to accustom them to its use."
Precisely because Webster is not a standard of English diction, ought we
to withhold him from the children of the foreigner, who, recognizing on
every page words and phrases of his own, will not fail to add others, and to
hasten the corruption of our tongue; as, for instance, there are French
phrases, like ci-devant, comme ii faut, neuvaines; Italian ones, like cicisbeo,
zinforzando, staccato; Spanish, such as ranchero, hidalgo, donna; Dutch, as
domine; Scotch, as ingle, cannie, and so on.
For all these reasons, the undersigned reports that, in his judgment, the
introduction of Webster's Dictionary, in the manner proposed by the bill
now before the Legislature, into the school districts of the State, would be
unwise, because Webgter's Dictionary is neither an English Dictionary nor
a standard of orthography.
All which is respectfully submitted.
JAMES W. BEEKMAN,
Chairman of the Committee on Literature.
Senate Chamber, July, 1851.
The Messrs. Merriam further state, in their advertisements, that " In
the Empire State of Newu Yo'k, and at the West, Worcester is almost
wholly unknown."
We doubt not that the practical teachers " in the Empire State of
New York, and at the West," will be greatly surprised at this inform.
ation. ~ It is our good fortune to enjoy the acquaintance of many of'
the most eminent teachers, not only of "the Empire State of New
York, and at the West," but of every section of the country, and we do
not remember to have conversed with a single individual upon the subject who did not express a preference for Worcester's Dictionaries for
the school-room.  Many of them speak in terms of commendation of




WORCESTERI'S DICTIONARIES.                      33
Webster's Quarto Dictionary as a book of reference, but all concur in
saying that "Worcester's Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory
Dictionary, as a hand-book for scholars, is the best Dictionary of the
English language extant." Let us examine the testimony, and see
how far the statement of Messrs. G. & C. Merriam, that "in the
Empire State of New York, and at the West, Worcester is almost
whoZly unknown," is true.
From  MR. JOSEPH MCKEEN, Superintendent of Common Schools for the City
of New York.
New York, January 25, 1853.
Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary has been with me a standard
work in orthography and pronunciation for several years. I know of no
other English Dictionary comparable with this in these respects. All teachers and public speakers will do well to have this Dictionary at hand, as a
reference book. I most cordially recommend the whole series of Dictionaries by Joseph E. Worcester, as the best works of the kind with which I am
acquainted.                                  JOSEPH McKEEN.
The Book Committee of the Ward School Teachers' Association of
the city of New York, consisting of
Messrs. SENECA DURAND,
EDWARD McILROY, and
JOHN WALSH,
subjoined to a very able and highly-favorable report upon Worcester's
Dictionary the following resolution:
Resolved, That this Association recommend the adoption of Mr. J. E.
Worcester's Dictionary into all our schools.
This resolution was adopted, and Worcester's Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary is now used in the Free Academy of New York city, and in the ward and public schools. It is used
in the public schools of Buffalo, Rochester, and other principal places
in the State. We subjoin the following recommendations:
From TOWNSEND HARRIS, ESQ., late President of the Board of Education,
New York City.
The design, " to give the greatest quantity of useful matter in the most
condensed form,*" has, in my opinion, been most happily accomplished; and
I cheerfully recommend the work to teachers and the friends of education in
general, who are desirous of securing a cheap and comprehensive Dictionary
of the English tongue.
From JOSEPH MCKREE, English and Classical Teacher, New York.
Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary is in every respect one of the most
correct, convenient, and useful school Dictionaries in print. It is a book
that should be found on every school-boy's desk.




34,            WORCESTER;: S  DICTIONARIES.
I have examined Worcester's Dictionary, and fully concur in the above
recommendation.              LEMUEL G. OLMSTEAD, A.M.,
Principal of Classical and English School, New York.
From ROBERT F. WINSLOW, Commissioner of Common Schools, New York
City.
It contains several thousand words now in common use, but not to be
found in any other English Dictionary. This alone, amongst its other
excellences, entitles it to general favor, and indeed makes it indispensable in
our schools, libraries, and literary institutions. It only requires to be
examined carefully to insure its adoption as a standard by our best English
scholars.
We fully concur in the above.
SAMUEL S. ST. JOHN,
Commissioner of Common Schools, New York City;
Principal of Ward School No. 10.
G. S. BROWN,
Principal of New England Institute, Bond-street, New York.
From PROFESSOR E. A. JOHNSON, of University of the City of New York.c
The fulness and compass of the vocabulary, the minute and careful attention bestowed upon the subject of orthoepy, the propriety of the orthography,
the clearness and exactness of the definitions, together with the nice critical
notes on unauthorized words, provincial usage, &c., which are found
throughout the volume, are excellences which distinguish this above any
other Dictionary within my knowledge.
From GEORGE W. CLARKE, M.A., Associate Principal of Mount Washington Collegiate School, New York City.
Mr. Worcester has, by the accuracy of his pronunciations, the brevity and
pertinence of his definitions, and, in short, by the COMPREHENSIVE CHIARACTER
of his Dictionary, removed from the fifty millions who use the English language the necessity of consulting a variety of discordant, and of course
unsatisfactory, authorities.
Rochester, January 10, 1852.
We have examined Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary, and do not
hesitate to pronounce it, in our opinion, the most comprehensive, accurate,
and useful compendium within our knowledge, and we cheerfully recommend
it as the Dictionary for our schools.
JOHN W. ADAMS,
JAMES H. FRENCH,   Principals of
C. C. MESERVE,          Public Schools.
M. DOUGLAS,           )
From PorFEssoR J. J. OWEN, Free Academy, New York City.
The book is replete with evidence that the author has addressed himself
to his task with energy, industry, and eminent success. Nothing seems to
have been omitted, nothing to have been left undone. It is a thesaurus
which is not surpassed, if it is equalled, by anything of the kind in the
English language.
PROFESSOR E. E. E. BRAGDON, of Falley Seminary, Fulton, N. Y.,
in a recent letter, says:




WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.                         35
GENTLEMEN: I take great pleasure in saying that, after careful examination, I am  convinced that Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary is
decidedly the best for all ordinary purposes of any work of the kind with
which I am acquainted. So good an English School and Family Dictionary,
I think, cannot be found. I hope it will soon become the School Dictionary
of the land.                   Yours, truly,
E. E. E. BRAGDON, M.A.
From MR. II. BANNISTER, Cazenovia, N. Y.
Cazenovia, April 4, 1853.
I hold in decided preference the pronunciation and orthography of Worcester's Dictionary to that of Webster, and shall continue to recommend the
use of Worcester to the students of our institution.
Very truly yours,
H. BANNISTER.
The foregoing testimony shows conclusively that the Messrs. Merriam are not justified in publishing the statement that " in the Empire
State of New York Worcester is almost wholly unknown."  Nor is the
assertion true in reference to the knowledge of Worcester "'at the
West." The following testimony of eminent educators will show that
the scholars in that section of the country are not so ignorant upon the
subject of Dictionaries as the Messrs. Merriam would have the public
suppose them to be.
H. H. BARNEY, Esq., formerly the distinguished principal of the
Hughes High School, Cincinnati, and now the STATE SCHOOL COMIISSIONER orF OrIO, in a letter to the publishers, says:
GENTLEMEN: I regard Worcester's Elementary'and Comprehensive Dictionaries as the best School Dictionaries extant, for the following reasons,
namely: First, becauso they are the cheapest Dictionaries which contain.
full vocabularies of Greek, Latin, Scripture, and Geographical Proper
Names, with their pronunciation. Second, because they exhibit the authorities respecting words of various, doubtful or disputed pronunciation, where
the words are lefined. Third, because, for manuals of this sort, they contain a very large number of words, especially numerous technical terms in
the various arts and sciences, with definitions as comprehensive and exact as
could be expected in works of this kind. The opinion has been formed from
a ten years' experience in the use of said works, in an institution that
afforded excellent opportunities for testing their peculiar advantages.
H. H. BARNEY.
Cleveland, January 10, 1852.
The undersigned concurs in the views expressed in the above note of Mr.
H. H. Barney in relation to Worcester's Dictionaries.
GEORGE WILLEY,
Acting Manager of Public Schools.
Sandusky, Ohio, February 15, 1854.
MESSR.: JENKS, HICKLING & SWAN.
Long use has led me to respect the extent and accuracy of the definitions
in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, while my later experience induces me




36            WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
to give the preference, unhesitatingly, to Mr. Worcester, as a standard for
pronunciation and orthography. Both are used in our public schools for
constant reference, and I should regard the withdrawal of either as a calamity. As a series for our pupils, we use Worcester's Elementary Dictionary
in our Grammar Schools, and Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary in our
High School.                  Very respectfully,
M. F. COWDERY,
Superintendent Public Schools, Sandusky, 0.
Athens, Ohio, May 6, 1852.
MESSRS. JENKS, HICKLING & SWAN.
GETNTLE.MEN: I desire to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of Worcester'a
Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language; and the brief
examination which I have since been able to give it fully confirms the favorable opinion which I had been led to form from its general reputation. I
take pleasure in authorizing you to add my name to the list of those who
" do not hesitate to pronounce it, in our judgment, the most comprehensive,
accurate and useful Dictionary within our knowledge."  It is undoubtedly
the best standard which we have as to orthography and pronunciation.
Very respectfully yours, &c.,
AARON  WILLIAMS, A.M.,
Professor of Languages in the Ohio University.
Massillon, January 3, 1852.
I have examined Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary, and Worcester's
Primary Dictionary, published by you, and am so well pleased with them
that I shall immediately recommend their introduction into the school now
under my charge. I think them the best practical Dictionaries now claiming public attention, and sincerely hope you will succeed in introducing
them into the schools of our State.
THOMAS W. HARVEY,
Superintendent Massillon Union School.
Urbana Seminary, March 11, 1853.
Worcester's Dictionary has been the standard authority in the institutions
which I have had the charge of for the past fifteen years; and from this
experience I am satisfied that the author has met fully the demand in this
department of learning.                   MILO G. WILLIAMS.
The Messrs. Merriam publish a letter from HoN. HORACE MANN, late
Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, commendatory of
Webster's Quarto Dictionary.  Mr. Mann is now President of Antioch
College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. Read what he says of Worcester's
Dictionaries as his standard  authority for orthography and pronunciation.
For many years, in all my writing, speaking and teaching, I have endeawv
ored to conform to the rules for orthography and pronunciation as contained in Worcester's Dictionary. I suppose them, with but very few
exceptions, to represent the highest standard recognized by the best writers
and speakers, in England and in this country.    I shall not fail to
recommend every person to purchase a copy of this Dictionary who is able
to do so.                                     HORACE MANN.




WORCESTER' S  DICTIONABIES.                        37
DR. AZEL P. LADD, the able and accomplished Superintendent of
Public Instruction of the State of Wisconsin, in his last report to the
Legislature of that State, recommends Webster's Quarto Dictionary for
"the school-room desk;" but he also recommends" Worcester's, as a
hand-book, for scholars."
From the Principal of the Union School, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
I am using Worcester's Dictionaries as ray standard authority in the
orthography and pronunciation of the English language.
D. F. DEWOLF.
TESTIMONY FROM MISSOURI.
Prom MR. SPENCER SMITH, late Superintendent of the Public Schools in St.
Louis, and Principal of an English and Classical High Schoolfor Girls.
St. Louis, November 29, 1852.
DEAR SIR: Of the many School Dictionaries which I have used in my
school for several years past, I regard Worcester's as decidedly the best. I
have found it uniting more of the requisites for such a Dictionary — correctness and comprehensiveness - than any similar work; and while I am
in the constant habit of directing the scholar's attention to Dr. Webster's
Quarto for the definition and use of words, Dr. Worcester's opinion on all
matters concerning disputed pronunciation is considered a final decision.
And permit me to add, that in all his works for schools I have found Dr.
Worcester more uniformly correct and more reliable authority than any
author with which I am acquainted.
Yours, &c.,                SPENCER SMITH.
From MR. A. LITTON, Superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools.
St. Louis, November 2, 1852.
For several years I have been daily in the habit of consulting Worcester's
Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language. I have always
found it an invaluable aid, and know no work of the kind that in all
respects possesses equal merit as a work of reference. I can heartily recom3mend it to all who wish to study, and to write and speak correctly, the English language.
Worcester's smaller Dictionary has been for the last ten years my travelling companion, and I know no Dictionary that is better adapted to meet
the wants of young persons, or that can with so much advantage be placed
upon the desk of every scholar in all schools and academies.
A. LITTON.
From  MR. J. D. Low, Principal of St. Louis High School.
I have used Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary for a number of years,
and regard it as standard authority in orthography and pronunciation. It
is an invaluable auxiliary in obtaining a correct knowledge of the English
language, and should be placed in the hands of the pupils of all our schools.
I place it by the side of Webster's Dictionary upon my desk, and would. not
be without it.                                        J. D. LOW.
From MR. J. BLANCHARD, President of Knox College, Illinois.
Worcester's large Dictionary can hardly compete with Webster's in the
definition of words, but it is a work of rare excellence; and by its clearer
4




38             WORCESTER' S DICTIONARIES.
and more obvious presentation to the eye of the pronunciation of the language, and especially by the richness and abundance of its appended matter,
it is a more convenient work for daily use to scholars than any other.
J. BLANCHARD.
We could publish a volume of similar testimony from  the most eminent teachers, not only " in the Empire State of New York, and at the
WHest," but in every section of the country.  Read the following
TESTIMONY FROM PENNSYLVANIA.
Hon. Thomas H. Burrowes, editor of the Pennsylvania School Jourgzal, and formerly Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State
of Pennsylvania, says:
Some months ago, being applied to by several teachers to designate the
best large defining and etymological Dictionary for the use of teachers, we
unhesitatingly named, and still name, Webster's Unabridged quarto work,
We have recently been asked, also, by teachers, to name a good Dictionary
for pupils to have on their desks for reference, and feel as little hesitation in
saying that ~Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary is as good a one as can
be purchased for this use and for the same money - perhaps the best- certainly the best we have examined. WVe are not in favor of 25 cent or 37A
cent Dictionaries for this purpose. If practicable, we should like to see
Webster's or Worcester's largest books in the ownership and use of each
advanced pupil; but this is, yet, out of the question. The next best thing
that can be done is to get the next largest and cheapest book to be had; and
there will be no mistake in telling every pupil, who wants or ought to have
a good Dictionary of the English language, to buy Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary.
TESTIMONY FROM MARYLAND.
Office of the Commissioners of Public Schools, April 16, 1853.
At a meeting of the Board of Public School Commissioners of the city of
Baltimore, held March 8th, 1853, Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary
was introduced into the schools,
Respectfully yours,
J. W. TILYARD,
Sec. Comm's Public Schools.
Office of the Commissioners of Public Schools, May 17, 1853.
At a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Public Schools for the citv
of Baltimore held this day, Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary
was introduced into all the schools for the use of the teachers.
Very respectfully and truly yours,
J. W. TILYARED,
Sec. Comm's Public Schools.
TESTIMONY FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
Hon. C. H. Wiley, Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State
of North Carolina, in his recommendation of school books for that
State, thus alludes to the subject of Dictionaries:




W'1ORCESTERn  S DICTIONARIES.                     39
Every scholar should be in possession of a Dictionary as soon as he learns
to read; and when teachers exercise their pupils in spelling, from -memory,
they should give out the words from a work of this sort, and give also the
definition.
As best suited to the purposes of our primary schools, I recommend, without hesitation, WoRCESTEn's COMPREnENSIVE DICTIONARY. And I earnestly
hope that all teachers, at least, will supply themselves with copies.
C. H. WILEY.
TESTIMONY FROM SOUTH CAROLINA.
From PROFESSOR FRANCIS LIEBER, LL.D., of South Carolina College.
3My acquaintance with Dr. Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary
is thorough, and I consider it the best of all American Dictionaries of the
English language. I am not acquainted with the school editions of this
Dictionary, but, knowing well the indefatigable industry and long-tried
judclgment of the author, I make no doubt but that the value of these editions is proportionate to that of the larger work, and that they deserve the
recommendations which many scholars have given them.
FRANCIS LIEBER.
TESTI1ONY FRO-o ALABAMA.
From PRoFEssOR WILSON G. RICHARDSON, of the University of Alabama.
Whilst in charge of the department of criticism in the University of Alabama, I inflexibly ruled out all Websterian innovations, by ordering, for,the use of the students, Dr. Worcester's excellent work, and acknowledging
no other standard in orthography and orthodpy. This learned and laborious investigator has here presented us the language, - not such as certain
well-meaning theorists would have it, but such as it actually is; and this I
conceive to be the only legitimate office of the lexicographer. His analysis
of sound is much more simple and complete than even Walker's, the weight
of whose authority is ever brought to bear upon the decision of delicate
points.                              WILSON G. RICHARDSON.
TESTIMONY FROM NEW ORLEANS.
The undersigned, Committee on Supplies for the Public Schools of the
Fourth District, New Orleans, highly approve of the series of Dictionaries
compiled by Dr. J. E. Worcester, and published by Jenks, Hickling &
Swan, of Boston. Pursuant to a resolution of the School Board, of which
we are a committee, we have through our bookseller and stationer — Mr.
William Fleming - ordered for our two thousand pupils each a copy of one
of the three smaller Dictionaries of the series, according to the degree of the
advancement of the pupil. We have also furnished each of our forty teachers with a copy of the octavo Dictionary of Worcester, which we have
adopted as the standard on all points on which reference is made to a Dictionary. This latter work contains the most copious vocabulary ever published,
- full to repletion. It settles the pronunciation of a large class of words,
incorrectly designated in all preceding lexicons. It represents good taste
and good usage in orthography, in opposition to the scheming innovations
and perversions of Noah Webster, with whom every dead, fossilized word
of antiquity was caught at as a pretext for changing the spelling of the
words of his mother tongue.
Worcester's system of notation, and his scheme of the vowel sounds, are
more accurate and precise than any that we have examined, and must
infallibly lead to a correct and polite pronunciation.
The catalogue of words of unsettled orthography is extremely valuable for




40            WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
reference. When we add to this the rules and vocabularies for the pronunciation of the Greek and Latin proper names, the Scripture proper names,
and of Geographical names (excellences which belong to all four of the
Dictionaries of the series), we have a book which should supersede all other
Octavo Dictionaries ever published.
The compiler has rendered a real service to the cause of education; and
we hope that one so thoroughly competent to the task will ere long favor
the world with a massive Quarto, which will supersede the work of Webster.                              MOSES MORTON DOULER,
FREDERICK KALTEYER.
Fourth District of New Orleans, August 3, 1853.
The reader's attention is now called to the following additional testimony, in favor of the Universal and Critical Dictionary, from some
of the most eminent scholars in the country:
WORCESTER'S UNIVERSAL  AND  CRITICAL  DICTIONARY  OF
THE ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.
The execution of this Dictionary fully answers to its title.
The VOCABULARY is probably more comprehensive than that of all preceding English Dictionaries united.
Constant reference is made to AUrTORITIES with respect to words newly
introduced, and care is taken to note such as are technical, foreign, obsolete,
provincial, or vulgar.
The DEFINITIONS are clear and exact, and those pertaining to technical
and scientific terms are specially valuable to the general reader.
The author has evidently bestowed great labor on PRONUNCIATION. His
system of notation, which is easily understood, and founded on a more complete analysis of the vowel sounds than we have elsewhere met with, together
with his plan of exhibiting all the best English authorities in relation to
words differently pronounced by different orthoepists, gives to this work
important advantages as a Pronouncing Dictionary.
In ORTHOcGRAPHY he has made no arbitrary changes, but, where usage is
various and fluctuating, he has aimed to be consistent, and to reduce to the
same rules words of similar formation.
The insertion of' GRAMMATICAL FonRMS AND INFLECTIONS OF WORDs to a
much greater extent than they are given in other English Dictionaries, and
the short critical notes on the orthography, the pronunciation, the grammatical form and construction, and the peculiar technical, local, and American uses of words interspersed through the volume, gives to this work much
additional value.
The copious VOCABULARY OF MODERN GEOGRAPHICAL NAKIES, with their
pronunciation, and a greatly enlarged and improved edition of Walker's Key
to the Pronunciation of Classical and Scripture Proper Names, are important appendages to the Dictionary.
A year has passed since this Dictionary was published; and its already
extensive use,, both among cultivated English readers and men of wide learning, affords good testimony of its merits. We confidently recommend it as
containing an ample and careful view of the present state of our language.
JARED SPARKS, LL.D.
McLean Professor of An. and Mod. History, Harvard University.
JOHN  McLEAN, LL.D.
Justice U. S. Supreme Court, Ohio.
MOSES STUART, D.D.
Professor of Sacred Literature, Theol. Seminary, Andover, Mass3




WOIRCESTER' S  DICTIONARIES.                      41
EDWARDS A. PARK, D.D.
Abbott Prof. of Christ. Theology, Theol. Seminary, Andover, Mass.
LEONARD  WOODS, JR., D.D.
President of Bowdoin College, Me.
N. LORD, D.D.
President of Dartmouth College, N. H.
EDWARD  HITCHCOCK, D.D., LL.D.
President of Amherst College, Mass.
MARK HOPKINS, D.D.
President of Williams College, Mass.
EDWARD T. CHANNING, LL.D.
Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, Harvard University.
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, A.M.
Professor of Belles Lettres, Harvard University.
ALONZO POTTER, D.D., LL.D.
Bishop of Pennsylvania.
SIDNEY WILLARD, A.M.
Late Professor of Hebrew, &c., Harvard University.
BENJ. HALE, D.D.
President of Geneva College, N. Y.
ROBLEY DUNGLISON, M.D.
Professor in Jefferson Med. College, Philadelphia.
FRANCIS BOWEN, A.M.
Editor of the North American Review.
CHARLES FOLSOM, A.M.
Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum.
HECTOR HUMPHREY, D.D.
President of St. John's College, Md.
DAVID L. SWAIN, LL.D.
President of University of North Carolina.
PHILLIP LINDSLEY, D.D.
President of the University of Nashville, Tenn.
N. LAWRENCE LINDSLEY, A.M.
Professor of An. Lan. and Literature, Cumberland University, Tenn.
I concur fully in the leading portions of the above recommendation- not
having had leisure to examine all the particulars referred to.
LEVI WOODBURY, LL.D.
Justice U. S. Supreme Court, Mass.
From a general and frequent reference to this Dictionary, in constant use.
I fully concur in the general merits of the work, and regard it as a very
valuable aid to science.
THEO. FRELINGHUYSEN, LL.D.
Chancellor of the University of New York.
I have used " Worcester's Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language," in preference to any other, for constant reference.
JOHN WHEELER, D.D.
President of University of Vermont.
From HON. EDWARD EVERETT, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
I am inclined to regard your Dictionary, from the cursory examination I
have been able to make of it, and my knowledge of your lexicographical skill,
as the best Dictionary- I mean the most useful - of our language.
4*




42             WORCESTER' S  DICTIONARIES.
From the REV. WVILLIAM[ JENKS,. ID.D., Editor of the Comprehensive Commentary, 4dc.
The subscriber unites cordially with those gentlemen who have recommended Worcester's Dictionary as affording the best and safest exhibition
of the English language, in its most accredited and established use. It is
free from harsh innovations, conservative in its general character, trustworthy in its derivations; and he hopes it may be even more extensively
brought into early and continual use in seminaries of education and in public offices, that it may tend to check the irregularities that are deforming the
beauty of expression which it has cost so much effort to establish. He
regards it as, on the whole, deserving to be esteemed a standard.
Boston, January 26, 1853.                    WILLIAM  JENKS.
From IeoN. CHARLES SUMNER, United States Senate.
The Universal Dictionary I have used constantly, and almost daily, since
its publication. I have no hesitation in calling it the best practical Dictionary of the English language.
January 24, 1851.                          CHARLES SUMNER.
From REV. EDWARD BEECHER, D.D., Boston.
Since I received it, I have regularly consulted it, and always with increasing satisfaction. For convenience, accuracy, and copiousness, I have found
it decidedly superior to any work of the kind which I have used.
From HON. JOHN McLEAN, of Cincinnati.
Your small Dictionary, published in 1837, has been my daily companion
for more than nine years. I congratulate you on the completion of this
great work. Its production required high and exact learning, and much
patient labor; but it will introduce your name to every library in our country, and place it by the side of the distinguished lexicographers who have
preceded you.
From CHARLES NORTHEND, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Danvers,
Mass.
In respect to orthography and pronunciation I consider your work preferable to any other, and the definitions are all that could be desired.
From EDWARD HITCHCOCK, D.D., President Amherst College.
I am fiee to say that, in scientific terms (to which my attention was confined), it is the most complete of any Dictionary I have ever met; and,
therefore, it will replace all others on my study table.
From C. B. HADDOCK, Professor of Rhetoric, Dartmouth College.
It supplies all the defects of preceding works in pronunciation which have
occurred to me.
From J. BouvIuR, Author of Law Dictionary.
Since I have had it I have constantly referred to it; and although my
library is very well supplied with Dictionaries, I have frequently been
indebted:to yours for what I have in vain sought in others.
-From FRANCIS WAYLAND, D.D., President Brown University.
On looking over the various departments of your work, I am astonished
at the vast amount of information respecting our language which you have
compressed within so small a space. Your introductory articles seem to me
remarkably complete and compendious. The Dictionary is very full, and at
the same time you have, as far as I am able to judge, marked the words of
obsolete or doubtful use, with accurate discrimination. I congratulate you
on the completion of a work which will prove a most important aid to the




WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.                        43
student of the English language, and I tender to you my best wishes for its
success. I take the liberty to add, that Professor Gamwell, of the Chair of
English Literature and Rhetoric, entertains the same views as myself of the
value ofyour work.
From JOHN G. PALFREY, D.D., LL.D.
What lit~le examination I have yet been able to give to it confirms what I
hear from the best sources, that it is destined to supersede all other works
of the kind, and supply the want in its important department for an indefinite time to come.
F rom MR. A. W. SPRAGUE, Principal High School, Eastport, Me.
As an orthographer and orthodpist, Worcester, in my opinion, stands
unrivalled, and in words of doubtful orthography and pronunciation I know
of no safer authority.
From the ION. S. G. GoODRICH, Author of Peter Parley's Works.
The best popular standard of pronunciation is Worcester's new Universal
and Critical Dictionary.
From PROFESSOR M. B. ANDERSON, of Waterville College, 3Me.
The result of a thorough examination of Worcester's Dictionary has been
to produce in my mind the decided conviction, that for fulness of vocabulary,
accuracy in orthography, pronunciation, and definition, and for its criticisms
upon unauthorized words, it is superior to any Dictionary of the English
language.with which I am acquainted. I have recommended the work to
our students as a standard for reference.
Fronm MR. WILLIAM RUSSELL, Elocutionist, formerly Editor of the American
Journal of Education, and Author of a Series of Reading Books.
You are aware that I have, in my compilations on elocution, and in my
instructions on that subject, uniformly referred to the previous Dictionaries
of Mr. Worcester as the most accurate and satisfactory sources of information in their department. The new Dictionary I have examined closely, and
am daily using it as a standard for reference; and it seems to me the most
valuable work of the kind ever produced in this country. In my communications with teachers, I have been accustomed, for many years, to hear an
earnest wish expressed for an American Dictionary, free from the peculiarities of Webster and the obsolete extremes of Walker. Such a work Mr.
Worcester seems to have furnished, and it bids fair to be generally adopted
as a standard in instruction.
From MR. W. H. EWELLS, Principal of Putnam Free School, Newburyport,
Mass., and Author of a popular Gramnmar of the English Language.
As a standard of orthography and pronunciation, the compilation of Mr.
Worcester is far in advance of all other works of its class. His exhibition
of the elementary sounds of the language surpasses even the masterly analysis of Smart. The definitions are copious and accurate, and every portion of
the work affords evidence of the most careful and exact discrimination, and
the profoundest research.
The attention of practical teachers is particularly invited to the following recommendation of THE COMPREHENSIVE PRONOUNCING AND EXPLANATORY DICTIONARY:
This Dictionary exhibits, in its different parts, ample evidence of inquiry,
careful comparison, and sound judgment. It combines, in a very condensed
yet intelligible form, a greater quantity of valuable matter than any other




A44            WORCESTER'S  DICTIONARIES.
similar work; and as a Pronouncing Dictionary it possesses decided advantages over all others, by its superior system of notation, and by its exhibition
of all the principal authorities respecting words of doubtful and various pronunciation. We do not hesitate to pronounce it, in our judgment, the most
comprehensive, accurate, and useful compendium within our knowledge.
JOSEPH STORY, LL.D.
Professor Law, Cambridge, Mass.
SIDNEY WILLARD, A.M.
Professor Hebrew, Latin, &c., Cambridge, Mass.
E. T. CHANNING, A.M.
Professor Rhetoric and Oratory, Cambridge, Mas.
JOHN  PICKERING, LL.D. Boston.
WM. ALLEN, D.D.
President Bowdoin College, Me.
J. L. KINGSLEY, LL.D.
Professor Latin, Yale College, Conn.
ALONZO  POTTER.
Professor Rhetoric, Union College, N. Y.
C. ANTHON, LL.D.
Professor Greek and Latin, Columbian College, N. Y.
J. P. CUSHING, A.M.
President Hampden Sidney College, Va.
JASPER ADAMS, D.D.
President Charleston College, S. C.
ALONZO CHURCH, D.D.
President University of Georgia.
PHILIP LINDSLEY, D.D.
President Nashville University, Tenn.
EDWARD  BEECHER, A.M.
President Illinois College.
DAVID  PRENTICE, LL.D.
Professor of Languages, Geneva College, N. Y.
The foregoing testimony is sufficient to show that the assertions of
the Messrs. Merriam, in relation to the limited circulation of Worcester's Dictionaries, are as untrue as their statements in relation to the
character of Dr. Worcester. We therefore take leave of the subject
by expressing the hope that they will at once correct these false statements, and as honorable men will see to it that the correction or
retraction is as widely circulated as have been their unjust and injurious
aspersions; and that in future, whenever these gentlemen have occasion
to speak of Dr. Worcester or his Dictionaries, they will remember the
golden rule, "to do unto others as they would that others should do
unto them."




CATALOGUE  OF  SCHOOL  BOOKS.                             45
JENKS, HICKLING & SWAN'S
CATALOGUE OF
STANDARD SCHOOL BOOKS,
PUBLISHED AT
131 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON,
AND FOR SALE BY THIlE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT TIE UNITED STATES,
The attention of School Committees, Teachers, and other friends of education, is
respectfully invited to the following list of standard School Histories.
OUTLINES OF UNIVERSAL  IISTORY,
From the Creation of the World to the Present Time.
Translated from the German of Dr. GEORGE WEBER, Professor and Director of the
High School of Heidelberg,
BY DR. M. BEHR,
Professor of German Literature in Winchester College.
REVISED  AND CORRECTED, WITH TIE ADDITION  OF
A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
BY FRANCIS BOWEN, A. M.,
Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moril Philosophy, and Civil Polity, in
Harvard College.
ROYAL OCTAVO, 559 pp.
This book has been adopted as one of the text books on History at Harvard Univerrsity, Mass.; Brown University, Rhode Island; the University of Pennsylvania;
Dartmouth College, New Hampshire; Waterville College, Maine; Hanover College
and the Asbury Institute, Indiana; the Free Academy of New York, and in many
Academies, Htigh Schools, and similar institutions throughout the country.
A HISTORY OF GREECE,,FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ROMAN CONQUEST;
WITH SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTERS ON
THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE AND ART.
BY WILLIAM  SMITH,
Editor of the Dictionaries of "Greek and Roman Antiquities," " Biography and Mythology," and
" Geography."
ILLUSTRATED BY ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
The name of the author, to every classical scholar, is a sufficient recommendation
of the work.




46          CATALOGUE OF SCHOOL BOOKS.
A NEW  AND REVISED EDITION OF A:
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
ON A PLAN
ADAPTED TO THE CAPACITY OF YOUTH,
AND DESIGNED TO AID THE MEMORY, BY SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT AND
INTERESTING ASSOCIATIONS.
BY CHARLES A. GOODRICH.
ILLUSTRATED  BY ENGRAVINGS AND COLORED  MAPS.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED
THE CONSTITUTION  OF THE UNITED  STATES AND  THE
DECLARATION  OF INDEPENDENCE.
Revised from the three hundredth 18mo edition. Large 12mo, 425 pp.
This work is used in the public schools of New York city; of Cincinnati; in the
Normal School, Boston; in the public schools of New Hampshire, by recommendation of the School Commissioners of the state; nearly 40,000 copies have been sold
since its revision, and it needs only to be examined to be introduced throughout the
country.
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY COMBINED.
IN THREE PARTS, VIZ.:
THE FIRST BOOK OF HISTORY,
COMBINED WITH GEOGRAPHY;
CONTAINING
THE HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF.THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
THE SECOND BOOK OF HISTORY,
COMBINED WITH GEOGRAPHY;
CONTAINING THE
MODERN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE.
THE THIRD BOOK OF HISTORY,
COMBINED WITH GEOGRAPHY;
CONTAtNING ANCIENT HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY.
DESIGNED AS A SEQUEL TO THE
FIR:ST AND SECOND BOOKS OF EIISTORY.
These books have done more to create a taste in the minds of youth for the study
of history than any other book ever published. Nearly one hundred thousand
copies of the First Book have been sold since its revision last year. It is used in the
public schools of Boston, and in most of the principal schools throughout the country.




CATALOGUE- OF, SCHOOL BOOKS.                                  47T
OUTLINES OF CHRONOLOGY,
ANCIENT AND MODERN.
ON THE PLAN OF
THE REV. DAVID BLAIR.
12mo. 240 pp.
This book should be in the hands of every student of history. The leading events
in the world have been divided into twenty periods, each being characterized in
such a way as to distinguish it from the others. The important events in each
period are not only given with their dates, but the names of the distinguished characters who flourished in each period are also inserted.
ELEMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.
BY HUBBARD WINSLOW, A. M.
THE IMPROVEMIENT OF THE MIND.
BY ISAAC WATTS, D. D.
WITH CORRECTIONS, QUESTIONS AND SUPPLEMENT,
BY JOSEPH EMERSON.
Two editions of this work are published (18mo and 12mo). Dr. Johnson, in his
Life of Watts, says, "Few books have been perused by me with greater pleasure
than his Improvement of the Mind."
RUSSELL'S A3IERICAN ELOCUTIONIST.
This work comprises "Lessons in Enunciation," "Exercises in Elocution," and
c" Rudiments of Gesture," with a Selection of New Pieces for Practice in Reading
and Declamation, and engraved Illustrations. For Colleges, Professional Institutions, Academies, and Common Schools.
BY WILLIAM RUSSELL,
Editor'" American Journal of Education" (First Series), Instructor in Elocution at Abbot Female
Academy, Phillips Academy, &c. &c.
It is intended to be used in all Seminaries in wuich exercises in Declamation are
practised. It is designed to aid in the formation of a correct, forcible, and graceful
style of speaking.
LESSONTS IN ENUNCIATION.
BY WILLIAM RUSSELL.
This work comprises a course of Elementary Exercises, and Correction of Common Errors in Articulation and Pronunciation. With an Appendix, on the Mode
of Utterance in Public Reading and Speaking.




4x8         CATALOGUE O:F SCHOOL BOOKS.
WORCESTER'S IMIPROVED SERIES
F
READING BOOKS.
DESCRIPTION OF TIHE SEBTIES.
WORCESTER'S PRIIER, or First Book. 72 pages, 18mo.
WORCESTER'S SECOND BOOK, for Reading and Spelling. 168 pages, 18mo.
WORCESTER9S INTRODUC(TION TO THIRID BOOK, with Rules and Instructions. 264 pages, 18mo.
WORC)ESTER'S THIRD BOOK, for Reading and Spelling, with Rules and Instructions for Avoiding Common Errors. 288 pages, 12mo.
WORCESTER'S FOURTH BOOK, for Reading, with Rules and Instructions.
486 pages, 12mo.
The above series of Reading Books, by the Rev. Samuel Worcester, was the first
to introduce Rules and Instructions for avoiding errors in reading, in connection
with Lessons for practice. The plan has met with the approval of the friends of
education, as the demand for the series has evinced.
BAILEY' S
FIRST LESSONS IN ALGEBRA,
AND KEY.
LEACHI AND SWAN'S ARITHlETICS.
IN THREE PARTS.
CONSISTING OF
THE PRIMARY ARITHMETIC.
AN INTELLECTUAL ARITHMETIC.
A THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC. WITH A KEY.
WORCESTER'S DICTIONARIES
OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
CONSISTING OF
I. —A UNIVERSAL AND CRITICAL DICTIONARY. 1032 pages, royal 8vo,
containing over 100;000 words.
II.-A COMPREHENSIVE  PRONOUNCING  AND  EXPLANATORY DICTIONARY. 526 pages, royal 12mo, containing over 67,000 words.
III. —AN  ELEMENTARY DICTIONARY. 3'60 pages, 12mo, containing over
44,000 words.
IV. -A PRIMARY PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY. 352 pages, 16mo, containing over 40,000 words.
JENKS, HICKLI-NG & SWANF
131 WASHINGTON  STREET, BOSTON.