  Title: A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv Writings On Moral, Historical, Political, and Literary Subjects Author: Noah Webster Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor |
| Note: | Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/American Libraries. See https://archive.org/details/collectionofessa00webs |
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
The headings in the table of contents do not always match the headings in the text. The subsections do not have their own heading, but refer to the page where the discussion of this topic starts.
The mistakes mentioned in the erratum list on page viii have all been incorporated in the text and are underlined with a grey line. Other corrections are underlined with a dotted line. The original text appears when the cursor is hovered over the marked text. A list of corrections to the text can be found at the end of the document.
A
COLLECTION of ESSAYS
AND
FUGITIV WRITINGS.
ON
MORAL, HISTORICAL, POLITICAL and LITERARY
SUBJECTS.
BY NOAH WEBSTER, JUN.
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
Heureuses les villes qui, comme les individus, n'ont point encore pris leur pli! Elles feules peuvent aspirer À des loix unanimes, profondes et sages.
TABLEAU DE PARIS.
PRINTED AT BOSTON, FOR THE AUTHOR,
BY I. THOMAS AND E. T. ANDREWS,
At Faust's Statue, No. 45, Newbury Street.
MDCCXC.
SUBSCRIBERS
TO
The PRESIDENT,
The VICE PRESIDENT,
The SENATORS, and
The REPRESENTATIVS
OF THE
UNITED STATES of AMERICA,
The following PUBLICATION,
Designed to
Aid the Principles of the Revolution,
TO
Suppress Political Discord,
AND TO
Diffuse a Spirit of Enquiry,
Favorable to Morals, to Science, and Truth,
Is most humbly inscribed,
As a Tribute of Respect for their Karacters,
Of Gratitude for their Public Services,
And a Pledge of Attachment
TO THE
Present CONSTITUTION
OF THE
AMERICAN REPUBLIC,
BY THEIR MOST OBEDIENT,
AND MOST HUMBLE SERVANT,
The Author.
Hartford, June, 1790.
As the author was absent from the press, and the copy, in some places, obscure or not correct, some errors have unavoidably escaped the notice of the printers. The following are the most material.
| Page 47, | line 7, after corporate add body. |
| 49, | line 4 from bottom, for cognized reed organized. |
| 54, | line 6 of note, for would reed could. |
| 58, | line 7, for contrary reed contracting. |
| 146, | last line, for thousand reed hundred. |
| 151, | line 2 from bottom, for jurisdiction reed usurpation. |
| 263, | line 13, for do reed did. |
| 275, | line 5, for Archorites reed Archontes. |
| 283, | line 14, for leriquÆ reed linguÆ, and for dacodeni duodeni. |
| 323, | last line of text, for godfather reed grandfather. |
| 327, | line 7 from bottom, for change reed chance. |
| 332, | line 7 from bottom, for masks reed marks. |
| 334, | line 22, place the full point after equity. |
| 349, | line 1, for district reed distinct. |
| 350, | line 2, for mass reed map. |
| 355, | line 5, for ilans reed clans. |
| 365, | line 9, for the manners reed this manner. |
| 375, | line 3 and 4 from bottom, for ilans reed ilands. |
| 377, | line 4, for Koman reed Roman. |
| 382, | line 4 from bottom, for necessarily reed necessary. |
| 401, | line 28, for normous reed enormous. |
PREFACE.
The following Collection consists of Essays and Fugitiv Peeces, ritten at various times, and on different occasions, az wil appeer by their dates and subjects. Many of them were dictated at the moment, by the impulse of impressions made by important political events, and abound with a correspondent warmth of expression. This freedom of language wil be excused by the frends of the revolution and of good guvernment, who wil recollect the sensations they hav experienced, amidst the anarky and distraction which succeeded the cloze of the war. On such occasions a riter wil naturally giv himself up to hiz feelings, and hiz manner of riting wil flow from hiz manner of thinking.
Most of thoze peeces, which hav appeered before in periodical papers and Magazeens, were published with fictitious signatures; for I very erly discuvered, that altho the name of an old and respectable karacter givs credit and consequence to hiz ritings, yet the name of a yung man iz often prejudicial to hiz performances. By conceeling my name, the opinions of men hav been prezerved from an undu bias arizing from personal prejudices, the faults of the ritings hav been detected, and their merit in public estimation ascertained.
The favorable reception given to a number of theze Essays by an indulgent public, induced me to publish them in a volum, with such alterations and emendations, az I had heerd suggested by frends or indifferent reeders, together with some manuscripts, that my own wishes led me to hope might be useful.
During the course of ten or twelv yeers, I hav been laboring to correct popular errors, and to assist my yung brethren in the road to truth and virtue; my publications for theze purposes hav been numerous; much time haz been spent, which I do not regret, and much censure incurred, which my hart tells me I do not dezerv. The influence of a yung writer cannot be so powerful or extensiv az that of an established karacter; but I hav ever thot a man's usefulness depends more on exertion than on talents. I am attached to America by berth, education and habit; but abuv all, by a philosophical view of her situation, and the superior advantages she enjoys, for augmenting the sum of social happiness.
I should hav added another volum, had not recent experience convinced me, that few large publications in this country wil pay a printer, much less an author. Should the Essays here presented to the public, proov undezerving of notice, I shal, with cheerfulness, resign my other papers to oblivion.
The reeder wil obzerv that the orthography of the volum iz not uniform. The reezon iz, that many of the essays hav been published before, in the common orthography, and it would hav been a laborious task to copy the whole, for the sake of changing the spelling.
In the essays, ritten within the last year, a considerable change of spelling iz introduced by way of experiment. This liberty waz taken by the writers before the age of queen Elizabeth, and to this we are indeted for the preference of modern spelling over that of Gower and Chaucer. The man who admits that the change of housbonde, mynde, ygone, moneth into husband, mind, gone, month, iz an improovment, must acknowlege also the riting of helth, breth, rong, tung, munth, to be an improovment. There iz no alternativ. Every possible reezon that could ever be offered for altering the spelling of wurds, stil exists in full force; and if a gradual reform should not be made in our language, it wil proov that we are less under the influence of reezon than our ancestors.
Hartford, June, 1790.
CONTENTS.
No. I.
On the Education of Youth in America.
- Page
- General Remarks. 1
- Division of the Subject. Attention to the Dead Languages. 3
- Study of the English Language necessary. 7
- Use of the Bible in Skools. 8
- Study of Mathematics. 9
- Diversity of Studies in the same Skool. 10
- Local Situation of Colleges and Academies. 11
- On classing Students. 13
- Of good Instructors. 15
- Fatal Effects of employing Men of low Karacters in Skools. 18
- What Books should be read in Skools. 23
- On public Skools—their Importance in a free Guvernment. 24
- On the Education of Females. 27
- On a foreign Education. 30
- The Tour of America, a necessary Part of a liberal Education. 35
No. II.
Principles of Guvernment and Commerce.
- Origin of Guvernment. 38
- Of Representation. ibid.
- Of the Executiv and Judicial Powers. 39
- Distinction between Laws and legislativ Grants and Contracts. 40
- Of collecting Debts by Law, and of Money. 42
- Of Public Justice. 43
No. III.
On Bills or Declarations of Rights.
- Necessity and Advantages of such Declarations in England. 45
- Bills of Rights not necessary in America. 46
No. IV.
On Guvernment.
- Of the Distinction between a Convention and Legislature. 49
No. V.
- The Subject continued, with a Consideration of Mr. Jefferson's Arguments in Favor of an unalterable Constitution. 59
No. VI.
- The Subject continued. That the Freemen of a State hav no Right to bind their Representativs in Legisture by their own Instructions. 72
No. VII.
Remarks on the Manners, Guvernment and Debt of the United States.
- State of America after the War. 81
- Causes of Public Unhappiness. 84
- Pernicious Effects of Introducing foreign Manners. 85
- --------------------------------- False Taste. 94
- Force of Habit in Guvernment. 97
- Fatal Effects of a Sudden Influx and fluctuating Value of Money. 105
- Instability of Laws. 112
No. VIII.
- On Paper Money. 119
No. IX.
- On Redress of Grievances. 125
No. X.
- The Influence of the Devil. 127
No. XI.
- Desultory Thoughts on the Tranquillity of the Guvernment of Connecticut, Emissions of Paper Currency, Union of the States, and Popular Complaints respecting Lawyers. 132
No. XII.
- Advice to Connecticut Folks. 137
- An Address to the Dissenting Members of the late Convention in Pensylvania. 142
No. XIV.
- On Test Laws, Oaths of Allegiance, Abjuration and partial Exclusions from Office. 151
No. XV.
Sketches of the Rise, Progress and Consequences of the late Revolution.
- Ground of European Claims to North America. 154
- Origin and Progress of the Controversies respecting America. 155
- Causes of the late War, between Great Britain and America. 158
- Massacre at Boston in 1770. 161
- First Congress in 1774. 164
- Battle of Lexington, and Progress of the War. 167
- Appointment of General Washington to the Command of the American Armies. 169
- Letter from General Washington, explaining the Circumstances which led to the Capture of Lord Cornwallis. 180
- Treaty of Peace. 182
- Consequences of the War. Defects of the Confederation. 183
- Popular Tumults on Account of Half Pay to the Officers of the Army. 184
- ---------------- on Account of the Cincinnati. 186
- Failure of Public Credit. 187
- Insurrection in Massachusetts. 189
- Regulation of Prices. 192
- History of Paper Money. 194
- State of Commerce. 198
- Origin of the Convention in 1786. 199
- Convention and new Form of Federal Guvernment. 200
- Processions in Honor of the Constitution. 203
- First Congress under the Constitution. ibid.
- Remarks on the Method of Burying the Dead among the Nativs of this Country, compared with that among the Ancient Britons. 205
No. XVII.
- On the Regularity of the City of Philadelphia. 217
No. XVIII.
- A Dissertation concerning the Influence of Language on Opinions, and of Opinions on Language. 222
No. XIX.
- Effect of Music on Society. 229
No. XX.
- On the Morality of Savage Nations. 233
No. XXI.
- A Letter from Constantia, with the Answer. 239
No. XXII.
- Letter on the Education of a Young Man, with an Answer. 245
No. XXIII.
An Enquiry into the Origin of the Words Domesday, Parish, Parliament, Peer, Baron, with Remarks, new and interesting.
- Etymology of Domesday. 250
- Probable Etymology of Parish. 252
- Etymology of Parliament. 258
- --------- of Peer. 261
- --------- of Baron. 268
- Extract from Camden's Britannia. 291
- ------- from Sir William Temple's Works. 297
- Postscript, with Remarks on Juries after the Conquest. 299
No. XXIV.
- The Injustice, Absurdity, and Bad Policy of Laws against Usury. 304
No. XXV.
- The Grounds and Extent of Allegiance, Natural and Local. 317
- Explanation of the Reezons, why Marriage iz prohibited between Natural Relations, designed to determin the Propriety of marrying a Wife's Sister. 322
No. XXVII.
Miscellaneous Remarks on Divisions of Property, Guvernment, Education, Religion, Agriculture, Slavery, Commerce, Climate and Diseezes in the United States.
- Connection between Property and Power. 326
- Tenure of Lands in Europe. ibid.
- --------------- in New England—its Effects. 328
- Causes which may in Future change our Governments. 332
- Karacter of the First Settlers of New England—their Institutions—Support of Clergymen, Skools, Newspapers, Parish Libraries, &c. 332 to 339
- Constitution of Connecticut—Origin—Excellencies and Defects. 340, 347
- Remarks on the State of New York. 347
- ----------------------- New Jersey—Territorial Controversy between East and West Jersey. 348
- Pensylvania-Territorial Controversy between that State and Connecticut. 355
- Maryland. 360
- Virginia. 361
- Carolinas and Georgia. 364
- Agriculture—Influence of Slavery on this. 365
- Climate of America. 368
- Comparativ Temperature of the Wether in the Northern and Suthern States. 372
No. XXVIII.
- On a Discrimination between the Original and Purchasing Creditors of the United States. 378
No. XXIX.
- An Address to Yung Gentlemen. 387
No. XXX.
- An Address to Yung Ladies. 406