A COLLECTION of ESSAYS AND FUGITIV WRITINGS.
Reading edition
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
The honorable John Adams, Esq. Vice President of the United States, 2 copies.
The hon. Pierce Butler, Esq. — Senators in Congress.
The hon. Charles Carrol, Esq.
The hon. Oliver Ellsworth, Esq.
The hon. William Few, Esq.
The hon. Benjamin Hawkins, Esq.
The hon. John Henry, Esq.
The hon. Ralph Izard, Esq.
The hon. William Samuel Johnson, Esq.
The hon. Samuel Johnston, Esq.
The hon. Rufus King, Esq.
The hon. Robert Morris, Esq.
The hon. George Read, Esq.
Hon. Jonathan Trumbull, Esq. — Representativs in Congress.
Jeremiah Wadsworth, Esq.
A.
Nathaniel W. Appleton, Physician, Boston.
John Allen, Esq. Attorney at Law, Litchfield.
B.
Isaac Baldwin, Esq. Clerk of Court, Litchfield.
Isaac Baldwin, jun. Esq. Attorney, do.
Mrs. Ruthy Barlow, Greenfield.
Mr. Jesse Benedict, Fairfield.
Mr. Isaac Bronson, Hartford.
Mr. Caleb Bull, do.
Mr. James Burr, do.
Jonathan Brace, Esq. Attorney, Glanstenbury.
David Burr, Esq. Attorney, Fairfield.
Barna Bidwell, Esq. Attorney, New Haven.
John Bird, Esq. Attorney, Salisbury.
C.
Peter Colt, Esq. Treasurer of Connecticut, Hartford.
Mr. John M'Curdy, Merchant, do.
Richard M'Curdy, Esq. Attorney, Lyme.
John Caldwell, Esq. Alderman of the City of Hartford.
[pg iv]Mr. John Chenevard, jun. Hartford.
Hon. John Chester, Esq. Judge of the County Court, Wethersfield.
Thomas Chester, Esq. Attorney, Wethersfield.
Edward Carrington, Physician, Milford.
Reverend Henry Channing, New London.
Joshua Coit, Esq. Attorney, do.
Mr. Lynde M'Curdy, Merchant, Norwich.
Messieurs Coit and Lathrop, Merchants, do.
Mason F. Cogswell, Physician and Surgeon, Hartford.
Reverend John Clarke, Boston.
D.
Samuel W. Dana, Esq. Attorney, Middleton.
David Daggett, Esq. Attorney, New Haven.
Mr. Benadam Dennison, Norwich.
E.
Pierpont Edwards, Esq. Attorney for Connecticut District, New Haven.
F.
Mr. Thomas Fanning, Norwich.
G.
William Greenleaf, Esq. Boston.
Chauncey Goodrich, Esq. Attorney, Hartford.
Elizur Goodrich, Esq. Attorney, New Haven.
Gideon Granger, jun. Esq. Attorney, Suffield.
Gaylord Griswold, Esq. Attorney, Windsor.
H.
His Excellency Samuel Huntington, Esq. Governor of Connecticut.
Lemuel Hopkins, Physician, Hartford.
Mr. Asa Hopkins, Druggist, do.
Uriel Holmes, Esq. Attorney, New Hartford.
Colonel Ebenezer Huntington, Merchant, Norwich.
Mr. Joseph Howland, do.
Mr. Andrew Huntington, Merchant, do.
Mr. Levi Huntington, do.
David Hull, Physician, Fairfield.
[pg v]William Hillhouse, Esq. Attorney, New Haven.
Captain Pliny Hillyer, Granby.
Samuel Henshaw, Esq. Northampton.
I.
Jonathan Ingersoll, Esq. Attorney, New Haven.
J.
William Judd, Esq. Attorney, Farmington, 2 copies.
John Coffin Jones, Esq. Boston.
K.
Mr. Isaac Kibby, Merchant, Enfield.
Ephraim Kirby, Esq. Attorney, Litchfield.
Mr. Joshua King, Ridgefield.
L.
Lynde Lord, Esq. Sheriff of Litchfield County, Litchfield.
M.
Reverend Jedidiah Morse, Charlestown.
William Moseley, Esq. Attorney, Hartford.
Samuel Marsh, Esq. Attorney, Litchfield.
Mr. John Morgan, Merchant, Hartford.
Mr. William Marsh, do.
Eneas Munson, jun. Physician, New Haven.
Ashur Miller, Esq. Attorney, Middleton.
George R. Minot, Esq. Attorney, Boston.
N.
Hon. Roger Newberry, Esq. Judge of the County Court, Windsor.
O.
Mr. Jacob Ogden, Merchant, Hartford.
Harrison Gray Otis, Esq. Attorney, Boston.
P.
Ralph Pomeroy, Esq. Controller of the Treasury, Hartford.
Enoch Perkins, Esq. Attorney, Hartford.
Mr. Nathaniel Patten, Merchant, Hartford, 3 copies.
Colonel Joshua Porter, Judge of the County Court, Salisbury.
Jonas Prentice, jun. Esq. New Haven.
Colonel Noah Phelps, Symsbury.
[pg vi]Giles Pettibone, Esq. Norfolk.
R.
Hon. Jesse Root, Esq. Judge of the Superior Court, Hartford.
Nathaniel Rosseter, Esq. Guilford.
Ephraim Root, Esq. Attorney, Hartford.
Tapping Reeve, Esq. Attorney, Litchfield.
S.
Reverend Nathan Strong, Hartford.
Thomas Y. Seymour, Esq. Attorney, do.
Mr. Isaac Sanford, Goldsmith, do.
Reuben Smith, Esq. Litchfield.
Daniel Sherman, Esq. Chief Judge of County Court, Woodbury.
General Heman Swift, Cornwall.
Lewis B. Sturgis, Esq. Attorney, Fairfield.
Mr. James Smedley, do.
Zephaniah Swift, Esq. Windham.
T.
John Trumbull, Esq. State Attorney for Hartford County.
Uriah Tracy, Esq. Attorney, Litchfield.
Nathaniel Terry, jun. Esq. Attorney, Enfield.
Mr. Thomas Tisdale, Merchant, Hartford.
W.
The Hon. Oliver Walcott, Esq. Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, Litchfield.
John Williams, Esq. Attorney, Wethersfield.
William Williston, Esq. Attorney, Symsbury.
Mr. Joseph Williams, Norwich.
Mr. Ashbel Wells, Merchant, Hartford.
Alexander Wolcott, Esq. Attorney, Windsor.
Mr. Thomas Walley, Merchant, Boston.
Thomas Welsh, Physician, Boston.
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 [pg x] 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.
[pg xi] 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
[pg xiii] 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
[pg xiv]No. XIII.
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.
[pg xv]No. XVI.
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
[pg xvi]No. XXVI.
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
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS.