time of war. These discussions induced Mr. Webster to examine the sub- | the excitement of feeling and conflict of opinion resulting from the Amer. ject historically; and, in 1802, he published a treatise full of minute information and able reasoning on the subject. A gentleman of competent abilities, who said he had read all that he could find on that subject in the English, French, German, and Italian languages, declared that he considered this treatise as the best he had seen. The same year, he also published "Historical Notices of the Origin and State of Banking Institutions and Insurance Offices," which was republished in Philadelphia by one Humphrey, without giving credit to the author; and a part of which, taken from this reprint, was incorporated into the Philadelphia edition of Rees's Cyclopedia.

At this time, Mr. Webster resided at New Haven, to which place he had removed in the spring of 1798. For a short period after his departure from New York, he wrote for the papers mentioned above, which, although placed under the care of another editor, continued for a time to be his property. He very soon succeeded, however, in disposing of his interest in them, and from that time devoted himself entirely to literary pursuits.

ican and French revolutions, and the numerous modifications which followed in the institutions of society, had also left a deep impress on the language of politics, law, and general literature. Under these circumstances, to make a defining dictionary adapted to the present state of our language, was to produce an entirely new work; and how well Mr. Webster executed the task, will appear from the decision of men best qualified to judge, both in this country and in Europe, who have declared that his improvements upon Johnson are even greater than Johnson himself made on those who preceded him. Still more labor, however, was bestowed on another part of the work; viz., the etymology of our leading terms. In this subject, Mr. Webster had always felt a lively interest, as presenting one of the most curious exhibitions of the progress of the human mind. But it was not till he had advanced considerably in the work as originally commenced,' that he found how indispensable a knowledge of the true derivation of words is to an exact development of their various meanings. At this point, therefore, he suspended his labors on the defining part of the Dictionary, In the year 1807, Mr. Webster published "A Philosophical and Prac- and devoted a number of years to an inquiry into the origin of our lantical Grammar of the English Language." This was a highly original | guage, and its connection with those of other countries. In the course of work, the result of many years of diligent investigation. The author's these researches, he examined the vocabularies of twenty of the principal views may be gathered from the motto on the title page, taken from Lord languages of the world, and made a synopsis of the most important words Bacon's Aphorisms-"Antisthenes, being asked what learning was most in each; arranging them under the same radical letters, with a translation necessary, replied, "To unlearn that which is naught." He considered of their significations, and references from one to another, when the senses our English Grammars as objectionable in one important respect, namely, are the same or similar. He was thus enabled to discover the real or probthat of being too much conformed to those of the Latin and Greek lan-able affinities between the different languages, and, in many instances, to guages in their nomenclature and classification. True philosophy, he discover the primary, physical idea of an original word, from which the maintained, requires us to arrange things, and give them names, according secondary senses have branched forth. Being thus furnished with a clew to their real nature. But our language is rude and irregular, in comparison to guide him among the numerous, and often apparently inconsistent, sigwith those of the ancients. It can not be reduced to the same orderly system. nifications of our most important words, he resumed his labors on the definThe several parts of it can not be brought under the same names and clas- ing part of the Dictionary, and was able to give order and consistency to sifications. We need, therefore, a nomenclature of our own in some im- much that had before appeared confused and contradictory. The results portant particulars. Thus the word pronoun properly denotes a substitute of his inquiries into the origin and filiation of languages were embodied in for a noun. But, in many cases, words of this class are substitutes for a work, about half the size of the American Dictionary, entitled "A Syclauses, or parts of sentences, and not for single nouns. There are also nopsis of Words in Twenty Languages." This, owing to the expense of the other words, not ordinarily ranged among pronouns, which act equally as undertaking, has not yet been published; though its principal results, so substitutes, that is, perform the office of pronouns. Mr. Webster, there- far as our language is concerned, are briefly given in tracing the etymology fore, proposed to lay aside the word pronoun, and apply the term substitute of our leading terms. to this whole class, as describing their true office. Other changes were proposed, of the same nature, and for the same reasons. No one, who examines the subject with attention, can doubt the advantages of Mr. Webster's nomenclature, in itself considered. It enabled him to give an analysis of sentences, and to explain constructions, in a manner incomparably superior to that of the ordinary systems. His intimate acquaintance with the sources of our language prepared him to account, in the most satisfactory manner, for many puzzling forms of expression. Still, the prejudice against a change of nomenclature is so great, that this work has been far less known than it ought to be. It contains much valuable matter found in no other work, and is believed to be the most truly philosophical Grammar which we have of the English language.

After publishing his Grammar, Mr. Webster entered, in the same year (1807), on the great work of his life, which he had contemplated for a long period - that of preparing a new and complete Dictionary of the English language. As preliminary to this, he had published, in 1806, a dictionary in the octavo form, containing a large number of words not to be found in any similar work, with the definitions corrected throughout, though necessarily expressed in very brief terms. From this time, his reading was turned more or less directly to this object. A number of years were spent in collecting words which had not been introduced into the English dictionaries; in discriminating with exactness the various senses of all the words in our language, and adding those significations which they had recently received. Some estimate may be formed of the labor bestowed on this part of the work, from the fact that "The American Dictionary of the English Language" contained, in the first edition, twelve thousand words, and between thirty and forty thousand definitions, which are not to be found in any preceding work. The number has been swelled, by subsequent additions, to about thirty thousand new words. Seventy years had elapsed since the first publication of Johnson's Dictionary; and scarcely a single improvement had been attempted in the various editions through which it had passed, or the numerous compilations to which it had given rise, except by the addition of a few words to the vocabulary. Yet in this period the English mind was putting itself forth in every direction, with an accuracy of research and a fertility of invention which are without a parallel in any other stage of its history. A complete revolution had taken place in almost every branch of physical science; new departments had been created, new principles developed, new modes of classification and descrip

During the progress of these labors, Mr. Webster, finding his resources inadequate to the support of his family at New Haven, removed, in 1812, to Amherst, a pleasant country town within eight miles of Northampton, Massachusetts. Here he entered, with his characteristic ardor, into the literary and social interests of the people among whom he was placed. His extensive library, which was open to all, and his elevated tone of thought and conversation, had naturally a powerful influence on the habits and feelings of a small and secluded population. It was owing, in part, probably, to his removal to this town, that an academy was there established, which is now among the most flourishing seminaries of our land. A question having soon after arisen respecting the removal of Williams College from a remote part of the state to some more central position, Mr. Webster entered warmly into the design of procuring its establishment at Amherst, as one of the most beautiful and appropriate locations in New England. Though the removal did not take place, so strong an interest on the subject was awakened in Amherst and the neighboring towns, that a new college was soon after founded there, in the establishment of which Mr. Webster, as president of its first board of trustees, had great influence, both by his direct exertions to secure it patronage, and by the impulse which he had given to the cause of education in that part of the state.

In 1822, Mr. Webster returned with his family to New Haven, and, in 1823, received the degree of LL. D. from Yale College. Having nearly completed his Dictionary, he resolved on a voyage to Europe, with a view to perfect the work by consulting literary men abroad, and by examining some standard authors, to which he could not gain access in this country. He accordingly sailed for France in June, 1824, and spent two months at Paris in consulting several rare works in the Bibliothèque du Roi, and then went to England, where he remained till May, 1825. He spent about eight months at the University of Cambridge, where he had free access to the public libraries; and there he finished "THE AMERICAN DICTIONARY.", He afterward visited London, Oxford, and some of the other principal cities of England, and in June returned to this country. This visit to England gave him an opportunity to become acquainted with literary men and literary institutions in that country, and to learn the real state of the English language there.

Soon after Dr. Webster returned to this country, the necessary arrangements were made for the publication of the work. An edition of twenty-five hundred copies was printed in this country, at the close of 1828, which was

tendence of E. H. Barker, Esq., editor of the Thesaurus Græcæ Linguæ of | writer must have ever at command. He learnt, therefore, to preserve docuHenry Stephens. With the publication of the American Dictionary, at the age of seventy, Dr. Webster considered the labors of his literary life as brought, in a great measure, to a close. He revised a few of his earlier works for publication, and particularly his “History of the United States," a book designed for the higher classes of schools, for youth who are acquiring a taste for history, and for men of business who have not time to peruse larger treatises.

In 1840-1, Dr. Webster published a second edition of the American Dictionary, consisting of three thousand copies, in two volumes, royal octavo. The improvements consisted chiefly in the addition of a number of thousand words to the vocabulary, the correction of definitions in several of the sciences, in conformity with later discoveries and classifications, and the introduction and explanation of many phrases from foreign languages, and of foreign terms used in books of music.

In 1843, he published "A Collection of Papers on Political, Literary, and Moral Subjects," in one volume, octavo. This was composed chiefly of tracts and disquisitions, which had been published at an earlier period of his life, either in the form of pamphlets, or of papers read before literary and philosophical societies, and printed among their Transactions. It contains his "Observations on the French Revolution," his "Essay on the Rights of Neutral Nations," and the papers signed CURTIUS, in vindication of Mr. Jay's treaty with Great Britain. To these is added an elaborate dissertation "On the supposed Change in the Temperature of Winter," which was read before the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, in the year 1799. In this he controverts the opinion which has generally prevailed, that the temperature of the winter season, in northern latitudes, has suffered a material change, and become warmer in modern than it was in ancient times. The subject was one which required very great minuteness and extent of historical research, and this paper contains the result of a series of investigations, which had been carried on, in conjunction with the author's other pursuits, for a period of more than ten years. Many of the facts which it presents are of a very curious and striking nature. There is, probably, no other treatise which exhibits the historical evidence on this subject with so much fullness and accuracy. In addition to this, the volume contains a number of other papers of an interesting character, and the whole collection forms a truly valuable record of the author's earlier labors.

ments of all kinds with the utmost care. All that he had ever written, all that had been written against him, every thing that he met with in newspapers or periodicals which seemed likely to be of use at any future period, was carefully laid aside in its appropriate place, and was ready at a moment's warning. He had also a particular mark by which he denoted, in every work he read, all the new words, or new senses of words, which came under his observation. He filled the margin of his books with notes and comments containing corrections of errors, a comparison of dates, or references to corresponding passages in other works, until his whole library became a kind of Index Rerum, to which he could refer at once for every thing he had read.

-on

Another habit, which resulted in part from his early pursuits, was that of carrying on numerous and diversified employments at the same time To men of the present generation, Dr. Webster is known chiefly as a learned philologist; and the natural inference would be, that he spent his whole life among his books, and chiefly in devotion to a single class of studies. The fact, however, was far otherwise. Though he was always a close student, -reading, thinking, and writing at every period of his life,- he never withdrew himself from the active employments of society. After his first removal to New Haven, he was for a number of years one of the aldermen of the city, and judge of one of the state courts. He also frequently represented that town in the legislature of the state. During his residence at Amherst, he was called, in repeated instances, to discharge similar duties, and spent a part of several winters at Boston as a member of the General Court. He entered with zeal into all the interests of the town and county where he lived, its schools and academies, its agriculture and mechanic arts, its advance in taste and refinement. He gave freely of his time, his counsel, and the efforts of his pen, when requested, in public addresses, or through the medium of the press, for the promotion of every kind of social improvement. Equally large and diversified was the range of his intellectual pursuits. There was hardly any department of literature which he had not explored with lively interest, at some period of his life. He wrote on a greater variety of topics than perhaps any other author of the United States; the foundations of government, the laws of nations, the rights of neutrals, the science of banking, the history of his country, the progress of diseases, In thus tracing the principal events of Dr. Webster's life, we have and the variations of climate; on agriculture, commerce, education, morals, reached the commencement of the year in which he died; and it may here religion, and the great means of national advancement, in addition to the be proper to pause for a moment, and consider some of those qualities and principal theme of his life, philology and grammar. Such was the activity habits of mind which prepared him for this long course of public service of his mind, and the delight he found in new acquisitions, that a change of and literary labor. The leading traits in the character of Dr. Webster were employment was all the relief he needed from the weariness of protracted enterprise, self-reliance, and indomitable perseverance. He was naturally study. The refreshment which others seek in journeys, or the entire susof a sanguine temperament; and the circumstances under which he entered pension of intellectual effort, he found, during most of his life, in on the active duties of life were eminently suited to strengthen the original the stimulus afforded by some new and exciting object of pursuit. Mental tendencies of his nature. Our country was just struggling into national exertion was the native element of his soul; and it is not too much to say, existence. The public mind was full of ardor, energy, and expectation. His that another instance of such long-continued literary toil, such steady, early associates were men of powerful intellect, who were engaged, to unfaltering industry, can hardly be found in the annals of our country. a great extent, in laying the foundations of our government, and who have The last of those mental habits which will now be traced was that stamped the impress of their genius on the institutions of their country. As of original investigation, of thorough and penetrating research. The period the advocate of the Federal Constitution, and a strenuous supporter at which Dr. Webster came forward in public life was one, to an uncommon of Washington's administration, he was brought into habits of the closest extent, in which every important subject was discussed in its principles. It intimacy with Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Oliver Wolcott, Timothy was a period when the foundations of our civil polity were laid, and when Pickering, and the other great men on whom Washington relied for counsel such men as Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, became "the expounders of the and aid in organizing the new government. The journal which he estab- constitution," and the advocates of the new government. All things conlished at New York was their organ of communication with the public, inspired to make the discussions of that day masterly exhibitions of reasoning the great commercial emporium of the United States. He was thus placed and profound investigation, the character of the men engaged, the on terms of constant and confidential intercourse with the leading members conflict of great principles, and the weighty interests suspended on of the cabinet, and the prominent supporters of Washington throughout the issue. Dr. Webster for some years took a large share in these discusthe country. While he had their respect as a ready and energetic writer, he sions, both in pamphlets and through the journal which he conducted. The enjoyed their counsel, imparted with the utmost freedom, as to the manner habits which he thus formed went with him into all the literary pursuits of in which he might best conduct the defense of their common principles. The his subsequent life. They made him a bold, original thinker, — thorough in natural result, especially on a mind constituted like his, was the formation all his investigations, and fearless in proclaiming the results. He had of all his habits of thought and action into a resemblance to theirs. no deference for authority, except as sustained by argument. He was no Energy, self-reliance, fearlessness, the resolute defense of whatever copyist, no mere compiler. Every thing he wrote, from a chapter in he thought right and useful, the strong hope of ultimate success, these "The Prompter," to his "Introduction to the American Dictionary," bore became the great elements of his intellectual character. He carried them the same impress of original thought, personal observation, and independ with him, at a subsequent period, into all his literary pursuits, and they sus-ent inquiry. tained him under the pressure of difficulties which would have crushed the spirit of almost any other man.

One of the habits which Dr. Webster formed in this early course of training, was that of arranging all his acquired knowledge in the most exact order, and keeping the elements of progressive thought continually within his reach. Although his memory was uncommonly quick and tenacious, he saw, as the editor of a daily journal, how idle and unsafe it is to

It is unnecessary to say how perfectly these habits were adapted to prepare Dr. Webster for the leading employment of his life, the production of the American Dictionary. Nothing but his eager pursuit of every kind of knowledge, and his exact system in bringing all that he had ever read completely under his command, could have enabled him to give in his first edition more than twelve thousand words and forty thousand definitions, which could then be found in no other similar work. Nothing but his pas

In the discharge of his domestic duties, Dr. Webster was watchful, consistent, and firm. Though immersed in study, he kept in his hands the entire control of his family arrangements, down to the minutest particulars. Every thing was reduced to exact system; all moved on with perfect regularity and order, for method was the presiding principle of his life. In the government of his children there was but one rule, and that was instantaneous and entire obedience. This was insisted upon as right, -as, in the nature of things, due by a child to a parent. He did not rest his claim on any explanations, or on showing that the thing required was reasonable or beneficial. While he endeavored to make it clear to his children that he sought their happiness in whatever he required, he commanded as one having authority, and he enforced his commands to the utmost, as a duty which he owed equally to his children and to God, who had placed them under his control. He felt that on this subject there had been a gradual letting down of the tone of public sentiment, which was much to be deplored. Many, in breaking away from the sternness of Puritan discipline, have gone to the opposite extreme. They have virtually abandoned the exercise of parental authority, and endeavored to regulate the conduct of their children by reasoning and persuasion, — by the mere presentation of motives, and not by the enforcement of commands. If such persons succeed, as they rarely do, in preserving any thing like a comfortable state of subordination in their families, they fail at least in the

the foundation of Johnson, or arranging Horne Tooke's etymologies, like | not only just, but liberal. It was a principle with him, for life, never to be Richardson, with some additions and improvements, under their proper in debt. Every thing was paid for at the time of purchase. In all his dealheads in a dictionary. But, commencing with the Diversions of Purley as ings and social intercourse, he was remarkably direct, frank, and open. He the starting-point of his researches, he was led by the character of had but one character, and that was "known and read of all men." Whathis mind to widen continually the field of his inquiries. He passed from ever faults might be imputed to him, no one ever suspected him of doublethe western languages to the eastern, in tracing the affinities of his native dealing; no one ever thought he was capable of a mean or dishonorable tongue. He established some of those great principles which have made action. etymology a science, and led the way in that brilliant career of investigation by which the German philologists are throwing so clear a light on the origin and filiation of the principal languages of the globe. But into these studies he would never have entered, nor even thought of attempting such a work as an original dictionary of the English language, except under the impulse of those other traits, that sanguine temperament, that spirit of self-reliance, that fearless determination to carry out every thing that he thought useful and true, to its utmost limits, which were spoken of above, as forming the master principle of his character. It is difficult to conceive, at the present day, how rash and hopeless such an undertaking then appeared on the part of any citizen of the United States. It was much as though we should now hear of a similar design by one of the settlers of New Holland. He was assailed with a storm of ridicule at home and abroad; and even his best friends, while they admired his constancy, and were fully convinced of his erudition, had strong fears that he was engaged in a fruitless effort, that he would never have justice done him, in bringing his work before the world under such adverse circumstances. Nothing, plainly, but uncommon ardor, boldness, and self-confidence, could have sustained him under the pressure of these difficulties. But such qualities, it must be confessed, notwithstanding all the support they afford, are not without their disadvantages. They often lead to the adoption of hasty opinions, especially in new and intricate inquiries. Of this Dr. Webster was aware. He saw reason to change his views on many points, as accomplishment of one great end for which their offspring were committed he widened the sphere of his knowledge. In such cases, he retracted his former statements with the utmost frankness; for he had not a particle of that pride of opinion which makes men so often ashamed to confess an error, even when they have seen and abandoned it. This ardor of mind is apt, also, to lead men into a strength and confidence of statement which may wear at times the aspect of dogmatism. If Dr. Webster should be thought by any one to have erred in this respect, the error, it should be remembered, was one of temperament-the almost necessary result of that bold, self-relying spirit, without which no man could have undertaken, much less have carried through, the Herculean task of preparing the American Dictionary. Those, however, who knew him best, can testify that his strength of statement, however great it might be, was never the result of arrogance or presumption. He spoke from the mere frankness of his nature; he practiced no reserve; he used none of that cautious phraseology with which most men conceal their feelings, or guard against misconstruction. He was an ardent lover of truth, and he spoke of the discoveries which he believed himself to have made, much as he would have spoken of the same discoveries when made by others. He was aware that there must be many things in a book like this, especially on a science so imperfect in its development as etymology, which would not stand the test of time. But he never doubted, even in the darkest seasons of discouragement and obloquy, that he could at last produce such a work, that the world "should not willingly let it die." The decision of the public verified his anticipations, and freed him from the charge of presumption. Three very large editions, at a high price, have already been exhausted in this country and England. The demand is still increasing on both sides of the Atlantic; and the author might well be gratified to learn, that a gentleman who asked, some years since, at one of the principal bookselling establishments of London, for the best English dictionary on their shelves, had this work handed to him, with the remark, "That, sir, is the only real dictionary which we have of our language, though it was prepared by an American."

to their care. They send forth their children into life without any of those habits of submission to lawful authority which are essential to the character of a good citizen and a useful member of society. In the intellectual training of his children, on the other hand, Dr. Webster had much less of system and complicated machinery than many are disposed to adopt. His great principle was not to overdo, -to let nature have free scope, and to leave the development of the mind, within certain limits, to the operation of awakened curiosity directed to its proper objects. He therefore threw open his extensive library to his children at an early period of their lives, and said, in the words of Cotton Mather, "Read, and you will know." He felt that children should learn to acquire knowledge by severe effort; that the prevailing disposition to make every thing easy is unphilosophical and wrong; that the great object of early training is to form the mind into a capacity of surmounting intellectual difficulties of any and every kind. In his view, also, the young have much to learn in early life, the use of which they can not then comprehend. They must learn it by rote, particularly the spelling of so complicated a language as ours; and all those systems which lead forward children no faster than they can understand and apply every word they spell, he considered as radically erroneous. He wished, on the contrary, at this early period of ready memory and limited comprehension, to store the mind with many things which would afterward be found of indispensable use; things which are learnt with the utmost reluctance, or rather, in most cases, are not learnt at all, in the more advanced stages of intellectual progress. He felt that there must necessarily be much of drudgery in the formation of a thoroughly educated mind. He thought it wise, therefore, to commence those tasks which it involves, from the earliest period at which the youthful intellect can endure them. Upon these principles he constructed his Spelling Book, and other works for the use of children. He designed to make them instructive, and not mere books of amusement. Whether his views were incorrect or unphilosophical, the public will judge.

In his social habits, Dr. Webster was distinguished by dignified ease, affa- In respect to religion, Dr. Webster was a firm believer, during a large part bility, and politeness. He was punctilious in his observance of all the nicer of his life, in the great distinctive doctrines of our Puritan ancestors, whose proprieties of life. There was nothing that annoyed him more, or on which character he always regarded with the highest veneration. There was a he remarked with greater keenness, than any violation of the established period, however, from the time of his leaving college to the age of rules or decorum, any disposition to meddle with the concerns of others, or forty, when he had doubts as to some of those doctrines, and rested in a difto encroach on the sanctity of those rights and feelings, which, as they can- ferent system. Soon after he graduated, being uncertain what business to not be protected by law, must owe their security to delicacy of sentiment in attempt, or by what means he could obtain subsistence, he felt his mind an enlightened community. He had an uncommon degree of refinement in greatly perplexed, and almost overwhelmed with gloomy apprehensions. In all his thoughts and feelings. Never, in his most sportive or unguarded this state, as he afterward informed a friend, he read Johnson's Rambler moments, did any sentiment escape him which was coarse or vulgar. He with unusual interest; and, in closing the last volume, he made a firm resohad, in this respect, almost a feminine purity of mind. It might be truly lution to pursue a course of virtue through life, and to perform every moral said of him, as was remarked concerning one of his distinguished 'cotem- and social duty with scrupulous exactness. To this he added a settled poraries in public life, that he was never known to utter an expression which belief in the inspiration of the Scriptures and the governing providence of might not have been used with entire freedom in the most refined female God, connected with highly reverential views of the divine character and

faithful discharge of all the relative duties of life, though not to the entire | three miles. The day was chilly, and immediately after his return, he was exclusion of dependence on the merits of the Redeemer. In this state of seized with faintness and a severe oppression on his lungs. An attack of mind he remained, though with some misgiving and frequent fluctuations peripneumony followed, which, though not alarming at first, took a sudden of feeling, to the winter of 1807-8. At that time, there was a season of turn after four or five days, with fearful indications of a fatal result. It soon general religious interest at New Haven, under the ministry of the Rev. became necessary to inform him that he was in imminent danger. Moses Stuart, now a professor in the Andover Theological Seminary. To He received the communication with surprise, but with entire composure. this Dr. Webster's attention was first directed by observing an unusual His health had been so good, and every bodily function so perfect in degree of tenderness and solemnity of feeling in all the adult members of its exercise, that he undoubtedly expected to live some years longer. But his family. He was thus led to reconsider his former views, and inquire, though suddenly called, he was completely ready. He gave some characwith an earnestness which he had never felt before, into the nature of per- teristic directions as to the disposal of his body after death. He spoke of his sonal religion, and the true ground of man's acceptance with God. He had long life as one of uniform enjoyment, because filled up at every stage with now to decide not for himself only, but, to a certain extent, for others, whose active labors for some valuable end. He expressed his entire resignation spiritual interests were committed to his charge. Under a sense of this to the will of God, and his unshaken trust in the atoning blood of responsibility, he took up the study of the Bible with painful solicitude. As the Redeemer. It was an interesting coincidence, that his former pastor, he advanced, the objections which he had formerly entertained against the the Rev. Mr. Stuart, who received him to the church thirty-five years before, humbling doctrines of the gospel were wholly removed. He felt their had just arrived at New Haven on a visit to his friends. He called immetruth in his own experience. He felt that salvation must be wholly of grace. diately; and the interview brought into affecting comparison the beginning He felt constrained, as he afterward told a friend, to cast himself down and the end of that long period of consecration to the service of Christ. The before God, confess his sins, implore pardon through the merits of the same hopes which had cheered the vigor of manhood were now shedding a Redeemer, and there to make his vows of entire obedience to the commands softened light over the decay and sufferings of age. "I know in whom I and devotion to the service of his Maker. With his characteristic prompti- have believed,"-such was the solemn and affecting testimony which he tude, he instantly made known to his family the feelings which he enter- gave to his friend, while the hand of death was upon him,-"I know tained. He called them together the next morning, and told them, with in whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep that which I have comdeep emotion, that, while he had aimed at the faithful discharge of all his mitted to him against that day." Thus, without one doubt, one fear, he duties as their parent and head, he had neglected one of the most impor- resigned his soul into the hands of his Maker, and died on the 28th day of tant-that of family prayer. After reading the Scriptures, he led them, with May, 1843, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. deep solemnity, to the throne of grace, and from that time continued the practice, with the liveliest interest, to the period of his death. He made a public profession of religion in April, 1808. His two oldest daughters united with him in the act, and another, only twelve years of age, was soon added to the number.

In his person, Dr. Webster was tall, and somewhat slender, remarkably erect throughout life, and moving, even in his advanced years, with a light and elastic step.

Dr. Webster's widow survived him more than four years, and died on the 25th day of June, 1847, in the eighty-second year of her age. He had seven In his religious feelings, Dr. Webster was remarkably equable and cheer-children who arrived at maturity,- one son, William G. Webster, Esq., ful. He had a very strong sense of the providence of God, as extending to the minutest concerns of life. In this he found a source of continual support and consolation, under the severe labors and numerous trials which he had to endure. To the same divine hand he habitually referred all his enjoyments; and it was known to his family that he rarely, if ever, took the slightest refreshment, of any kind, even between meals, without a momentary pause, and a silent tribute to God as the giver. He made the Scriptures his daily study. After the completion of his Dictionary, especially, they were always lying on his table, and he probably read them more than all other books. He felt, from that time, that the labors of his life were ended, and that little else remained but to prepare for death. With a grateful sense of past mercies, a cheering consciousness of present support, and an animating hope of future blessedness, he waited with patience until his appointed change should come.

During the spring of 1843, Dr. Webster revised the Appendix of his Dictionary, and added some hundreds of words. He completed the printing of it about the middle of May. It was the closing act of his life. His hand rested, in its last labors, on the volume which he had commenced thirty-six years before. Within a few days, in calling on a number of friends in different parts of the town, he walked, during one afternoon, between two and August, 1847

who resides at New Haven, and six daughters. Of these, the oldest is married to the Hon. William W. Ellsworth, of Hartford, late governor, and now judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut; the second to the author of this sketch; the third, now deceased, was first married to Edward Cobb, Esq., of Portland, Maine, and afterward to the Rev. Professor Fowler, of Amherst, Mass. ; the fourth, also deceased, was married to Horatio Southgate, Esq., of Portland, Maine, and left at her death a daughter, who was adopted by Dr. Webster, and is now married to Henry Trowbridge, Jun., Esq., of New Haven; the fifth is married to the Rev. Henry Jones, of Bridgeport, Conn.; and the sixth remains unmarried, in the family of her brother.

In conclusion, it may be said that the name of NOAH WEBSTER, from the wide circulation of some of his works, is known familiarly to a greater number of the inhabitants of the United States, than the name, probably, of any other individual except the FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY. Whatever influence he thus acquired was used at all times to promote the best interests of his fellow-men. His books, though read by millions, have made no man worse. To multitudes they have been of lasting benefit, not only by the course of early training they have furnished, but by those precepts of wisdom and virtue with which almost every page is stored

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

BY JAMES HADLEY, LL. D.

PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN YALE COLLEGE.

LANGUAGES KINDRED TO THE ENGLISH.

1. Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic, Indo-European. The English language is the descendant and representative of the Anglo-Saxon. It has lost very much of the inflection, and very many of the words, which belonged to the parent language; and, on the other hand, it has borrowed words very largely, to the extent even of half its vocabulary, from other languages, especially the French and the Latin. Yet all the inflections that remain in it, and most of its formative endings, the pronouns and particles, and, in general, the words which are in most frequent and familiar use, have come to it from the Anglo-Saxon. With all its mixture of foreign elements, it is still a Teutonic language, like the German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and others. These again make one branch in that great family of languages, which, as it extends from India westward, and covers nearly the entire area of Europe, is called Indo-European. Among all families of kindred tongues, the Indo-European is pre-eminent, both for the perfection of its organic structure, and for the value of its literary monuments. The parent of the whole family, the one primitive Indo-European language, has left no such monument of itself; but its forms and roots may be made out, to a great extent, by the scientific comparison of the languages which are descended from it. The main branches of the Indo-European family are the following:§ 2. I. The INDIAN. The Sanskrit of the four Vedas, the sacred books of the Brahman religion, is more ancient than the common or classical Sanskrit. Even the latter had ceased to be the language of common life as early as the third century before Christ. It was succeeded by the Prakrit dialects, one of which, the Pali, is the sacred language of the Buddhists in Ceylon and Further India. These, in their turn, were succeeded by the modern idioms of Northern Hindustan, the Bengali, Marathi, Guzerathi, and others. The Hindustani (or Urdu), formed in the camps and courts of the Mohammedan conquerors of India, is largely intermixed with Persian and Arabic. The widely-scattered Gypsies speak, with great diversity of dialect, a language which is clearly of Indian stock.

§3. II. The IRANIAN. To this branch belong, 1. The Zend, which is believed to have been the language of ancient Bactria, and is preserved in the Avesta, or sacred writings of the Parsis. 2. The Old Persian, which is seen in the cuneiform (or arrow-headed) inscriptions of Darius and Xerxes. The modern Persian has lost nearly all the ancient inflection, and with the Mohammedan religion has adopted a multitude of words from the Arabic. Other languages belonging to this branch are those of the Kurds, the Afghans, the Ossetes (in the Caucasus), and the ancient and modern Armenians. The Indian and Iranian are often classed together as forming the Indo-Persian or Aryan branch of our family.

§ 4. III. The GREEK. Of its numerous dialects, the first to receive literary culture was the Old Ionic or Epic, followed by the Eolic, the Doric, the New Ionic, and finally the Attic, which became at length, though with some change of form, the common language of literature and society. It is represented now by the Romaic, or Modern Greek. The Albanian, spoken in a large part of modern Greece, is supposed to be a descendant of the ancient Illyrian.

$7. VI. The SLAVONIC. The earliest monument is the version of the Bible made in the ninth century, by the Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius, into the Old Slavonic, the idiom spoken by the Bulgarians of that time. This widelydiffused class of languages divides itself into two principal sections: 1. The eastern and southern Slavonic, including the Russian, the Bulgarian, and the three Illyrian idioms, Servian, Croatian, and Slovenic. 2. The western Slavonic, including the Polish, the Bohemian (with the Moravian and Slovack dialects), the Lusatian or Wendish, and the extinct Polabian.

§ 8. VII. The LITHUANIAN. The language of Lithuania has no monuments older than the middle of the sixteenth century; but it has preserved in a surprising degree the ancient inflection and structure. To the same stock belong the Lettish of Courland and Livonia, which is much less ancient in its form, and the Old Prussian, which was once spoken on the coast of the Baltic east of the Vistula, but became extinct in the seventeenth century. The connection between this and the preceding branch is such that they are often classed together as the Letto-Slavic languages,

§ 9. VIII. The TEUTONIC. Here again the carliest monument is a version of the Bible, made by Ulfilas, an Arian bishop of the fourth century, into his native Gothic (or Maso-Gothic), the language spoken at that time by the Goths on the Lower Danube. This work is preserved only in fragments, but these are of considerable extent, and are of inestimable value to the philologist. Among the Teutonic languages we distinguish,

§ 10. 1. The High Germanic, in Upper or Southern Germany. The Old High German is seen in Otfrid's Krist, Notker's Translation of the Psalms, and other monuments, most of them in verse, from the eighth century to the end of the eleventh. The Middle High German, from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, has a rich poetical literature, including the Nibelungen Not with its attendant epics, and the lyric poetry of the Minnesinger. The New High Ger man is the language of Luther's Bible-version and of all German literature since the Reformation.

§ 11. 2. The Low Germanic, in Northern Germany and the Netherlands. . Here belong, (a.) The Friesic, which was once spoken along the whole northern coast of Germany, from the Elbe westward. Its early monuments consist almost wholly of laws, beginning with the fourteenth century. For a long time it has existed only as a popular idiom, and is now confined to a few small and scattered localities. (b.) The Anglo-Saxon (sometimes called simply Saxon), which in the fifth and sixth centuries was transplanted from North-eastern Germany to Britain, and has had its subsequent development and history in that island. (c.) The Old Saxon, which was spoken in Northern Germany between the Rhine and the Elbe, south of the narrow sea-coast region, which was occupied by the Friesic. It is known almost solely from the Heliand (i. e., Savior), a metrical narration of the gospel history, preserved in manuscripts of the ninth century. The language of the Netherlands in the same period can not have differed much from the Old Saxon, which may be regarded as the common parent of the two following idioms. (d.) The Dutch, or Low Dutch, spoken in Holland, and used in literature since the last part of the thirteenth century. The Flemish, spoken in Flanders, is a dialect of the Dutch. (e.) The Low German, strictly so

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it was used as a literary language; but political circumstances, giving ascendency to the High German, have reduced it to the inferior position of a popular dialect.

§ 12. 3. The Norse, or Scandinavian. The Old Norse is also called Old

§ 5. IV. The LATIN. This is often joined with the preceding, as the Greco-called (or Plattdeutsch), the idiom of the common people in Northern Germany. Latin, or Classical branch. Closely akin to Latin were the other Italican languages-the Oscan, Umbrian, etc.-in Central Italy. The modern descendants of the Latin are called the Romance languages. They are the Italian, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Provençal (of Southern France, used in the middle ages as a literary language), and the French (originally the popular dialect of Northern | Icelandic, as most of its abundant literature (Eddas, Sagas, etc.) was composed France). All these contain a small proportion of Teutonic words, brought in by the barbarian conquerors of the Western Roman Empire. But another Romance language-that of the Wallachians, the descendants of the Romanized Dacians-is largely intermixed with borrowed words, taken chiefly from the neighboring Slavonic tribes.

§ 6. V. The CELTIC. This branch is divided by strongly-marked differences into two sections: 1. The Gaelic, including the Irish (or native language of Ireland), the Erse (or Highland Scotch), and the Manx (the corrupt idiom of the Isle of Man). The last two are little more than dialects of the Irish. 2. The Cymric, including the Welsh (or native language of Wales), the Cornish (which | was spoken in Cornwall, but went out of use in the last century), and the Armorican (spoken in the French province of Brittany, the ancient Armorica). The oldest manuscript specimens of the Gaelic belong to the close of the eighth century: for the Cymric, the oldest which are at all copious, are three or four centuries later.

in Iceland. The oldest manuscripts in which it is preserved are of the thirteenth century; but many of its productions are of earlier origin, going back even to the heathen times of Scandinavia. The modern Icelandic has adhered with remarkable fidelity to the forms of the ancient language. But the modern idioms of the Scandinavian mainland, the Swedish, and, still more, the Danish (of which the Norwegian is only a dialect), have undergone extensive changes. § 13. Languages not kindred to the English. The Indo-European family has no isolated domain, but comes in contact with various other families of languages. It is bounded along its whole northern frontier by the Tartaric (or Tataric) family (called also the Turanian, or the Altaic), which includes the nu merous and widely-different languages of the Manchoos, the Mongols, the Turks (in Asia and Europe), the Magyars (in Hungary), the Finns, and a multitude of other tribes. To the south-east, it touches on the so-called Dravidian family, the Tamil and its sister idioms in Ceylon and Southern India. In South-western Asia it is in contact with a more remarkable family, the Semitic,- including the