Dr. Johnson's Ethices, Elementa, or First Principles of Morality, may now be read by the scholars, and explained by the master, to lay a solid foundation of virtue and piety in their minds. And as this class continues the reading of history, let them now, at proper hours, receive some farther instruction in chronology, and in that pair of geography (from the mathematical master) which is necessary to understand the maps and globes They should also be acquainted with the modern names of the places they find mentioned in ancient writers. The exercise of good reading, and proper speaking, still continued at suitable times.

FIFTH CLASS.

To improve the youth in composition, they may now, besides continuing to write letters, begin to write little essays in prose, and sometimes in verse; not to make them poets, but for this reason, that nothing acquaints a lad so speedily with a variety of expression, as the necessity of finding such words and phrases as well suit the measure, sound, and rhyme of verse, and at the same time will express the sentiment. These essays should all pass under the master's eye, who will point out their faults and put their writer on correcting them. Where the judgment is not ripe enough for forming new essays, let the sentiments of a Spectator be given, and required to be clothed in the scholar's own words; or the circumstances of some good story; the scholar to find expression. Let them be put sometimes on abridging a paragraph of a diffuse author: sometimes on dilating or amplifying what is wrote more closely. And now let Dr. Johnson's Noetica, or First Principles of Human Knowledge, containing a logic or art of reasoning, &c. be read by the youth, and the difficulties that may occur to them, be explained by the master. The reading of history, and the exercise of good reading and just speaking, still continued.

SIXTH CLASS.

In this class, besides continuing the studies of the preceding in history, rhetoric, logic, moral and natural philosophy, the best English authors may be read and explained; as Tillotson, Milton, Locke, Addison, Pope, Swift, the higher papers in the Spectator and Guardian, the best translations of Homer, Virgil, and Horace, of Telemachus, Travels of Cyrus, &c.

Once a year let there be public exercises in the hall; the trustees and citizens present. Then let fine guilt books be given as prizes to such boys as distinguish themselves, and excel the others in any branch of learn

ing, making three degrees of comparison; giving the best prize to him that performs best, a less valuable one to him that comes up next to the best; another to the third. Commendations, encouragement and advice to the rest, keeping up their hopes, that by industry, they may excel another time. The names of those that obtain the prize to be yearly printed in a list.

The hours of each day are to be divided and disposed in such a manner that some classes may be with the writing master, improving their hands, others with the mathematical master, learning arithmetic, accounts, geography, use of the globes, drawing, mechanics, &c.; while the rest are in the English school under the Englis master's care.

Thus instructed, youth will come out of this school fitted for learning any business, calling or profession, except in such wherein languages are required; and though unacquainted with any ancient or foreign tongue, they will be masters of their own, which is of more immediate and general use; and withal, will have attained many other valuable accomplishments: the time usually spent in acquiring those languages, often without success, being here employed in laying such a foundation of knowledge and ability, as properly improved, may qualify them to pass through and execute the several offices of civil life, with advantage and reputation to themselves and country.

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ON MODERN INNOVATIONS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, AND IN PRINTING.

To NOAH WEBSTER, Jun. Esqr. at HARTFORD.

"DEAR SIR,

"PHILADELPHIA, DEC. 26, 1789.

"I RECEIVED some time since your "Dissertation on the English Language." It is an excellent work, and will be greatly useful in turning the thoughts of our countrymen to correct writing. Please to accept my thanks for it, as well as for the great honour you have done me in its dedication. I ought to have made this acknowledgment sooner, but much indisposition prevented me.

"I cannot but applaud your zeal for preserving the purity of our language both in its expression and pronunciation, and in correcting the popular errors several of our states are continually falling into with respect to both. Give me leave to mention some of them, though possibly they may have already occurred to you, I wish,

however, that in some future publication of yours, you would set a discountenancing mark upon them. The first I remember, is the word improved. When I left New England in the year 1723, this word had never been used among us, as far as I know, but in the sense of ameliorated, or made better, except once in a very old book of Dr. Mather's, entitled "Remarkable Providences." As that man wrote a very obscure hand, I remember that when I read that word in his book, used instead of the word employed, I conjectured that it was an error of the printer who had mistaken a short in the writing for an r, and a y with too short a tail for a v, whereby employed was converted into improved: but when I returned to Boston in 1733, I found this change had obtained favour, and was then become common; for I met with it often in perusing the newspapers, where it frequently made an appearance rather ridiculous. Such, for instance, as the advertisement of a country house, which had been many years improved as a tavern; and, in the character of a deceased country gentleman, that he had been for more than thirty years, improved as a justice of peace. This use of the word improve is peculiar to New England, and not to be met with among any other speakers of English, either on this or the other side of the water.

During my late absence in France, I find that several 'other new words have been introduced into our parliamentary language. For example, I find a verb formed from the substantive notice. I should not have noticed this, were it not that the gentleman, &c. Also, another verb from the substantive advocate: The gentleman who advocates, or who has advocated that motion, &c. Another from the substantive progress, the most awkward and abominable of the three: The committee having progressed, resolved to adjourn. The word opposed, though not a new word, I find used in a new manner, as, The gentlemen who are opposed to this measure, to which I have also myself always been opposed. If you should happen to be of my opinion, with respect to those innovations, you will use your authority in reprobating them.

The Latin language, long the vehicle used in distributing knowledge among the difierent nations of Europe, is daily more and more neglected; and one of the modern tongues, viz. French, seems, in point of universality, to have supplied its place. It is spoken in all the courts of Europe; and most of the literati, those even who do not speak it, have acquired a knowledge of it, to enable them easily to read the books that are written in it. This gives a considerable advantage to

that nation. It enables its authors to inculcate and spread through other nations such sentiments and opinions, on important points, as are most conducive to its interests, or which may contribute to its reputation by promoting the common interests of mankind. It is, perhaps, owing to its being written in French, that Voltaire's Treatise on Toleration has had so sudden and so great an effect on the bigotry of Europe, as almost entirely to disarm it. The general use of the French language has likewise a very advantageous effect on the profits of the bookselling branch of commerce; it being well known, that the more copies can be sold that are struck off from one composition of types, the profits increase in a much greater proportion than they do in making a greater number of pieces in any other kind of manufacture. And at present there is no capital town in Europe without a French bookseller's shop corresponding with Paris. Our English bids fair to obtain the second place. The great body of excellent printed sermons in our language, and the freedom of our writings on political subjects, have induced a great number of divines, of different sects and nations, as well as gentlemen concerned in public affairs, to study it so far at least as to read it. And if we were to endeavour the facilitating its progress, the study of our tongue might become much more general. Those who have employed some part of their time in learning a new language, must have frequently observed, that while their acquaintance with it was imperfect, difficulties, small in themselves, have operated as great ones in obstructing their progress. A book, for example, ill printed, or a pronunciation in speaking, not well articulated, would render a sentence unintelligible, which, from a clear print or a distinct speaker, would have been immediately comprehended. If, therefore, we would have the benefit of seeing our language more generally known among mankind, we should endeavor to remove all the difficulties, however small, that discourage the learning of it. But I am sorry to observe that, of late years, those difficulties, instead of being diminished, have been augmented.

In examining the English books that were printed between the Restoration and the accession of George the Second, we may observe, that all substantives were begun with a capital, in which we imitated our mothertongue, the German. This was more particularly useful to those who were not well acquainted with the English, there being such a prodigious number of our words that are both verbs and substantives, and spelt in the same manner, though often accented differently

în pronunciation. This method has, by the fancy of printers, of late years, been entirely laid aside; from an idea, that suppressing the capitals shows the character to greater advantage; those letters, prominent above the line, disturbing its even, regular appearance. The effect of this change is so considerable, that a learned man of France, who used to read our books, though not perfectly acquainted with our language, in conversation wit me on the subject of our authors, attributed the greater obscurity he found in our modern books, compared with those of the period above mentioned, to a change of style for the worse in our writers; of which mistake I convinced him, by marking for him each substantive with a capital in a paragraph, which he then easily understood, though before he could not comprehend it. This shows the inconvenience of that pretended improvement.

From the same fondness for a uniform and even appearance of characters in a line, the printers have of late banished also the Italic types, in which words of importance to be attended to in the sense of the sentence, and words on which an emphasis should be put in reading, used to be printed. And lately another fancy has induced other printers to use the rounds instead of the long one, which formerly served well to distinguish a word readily by its varied appearance.. Certainly the omitting this prominent letter makes a line appear more even, but renders it less immediately legible; as the paring off all men's noses might smooth their features, but would render their physiognomies less distinguishable. Add to all these improvements backwards, another modern fancy that gray printing is more beautiful than black. Hence the English new books are printed in so dim a character as to be read with difficulty by old eyes, unless in a very strong light, and with good glasses. Whoever compares a volume of the Gentlemens' Magazine, printed between the years 1731 and 1740, with one of those printed in the last ten years, will be convinced of the much greater degree of perspicuity given by the black than by the gray. Lord Chesterfield pleasantly remarked this difference to Faulkener, the printer of the Dublin Journal, who was vainly making encomiums on his own paper as the most complete of any in the world. "But, Mr. Faulkener," says my Lord, "don't you think it might be still farther improved, by using paper and ink not quite so near of a colour ?"-For all these reasons I cannot but wish our American printers would, in their editions, avoid these fancied improvements, and thereby render

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