Narrated Event #3: the Bible of Linguistic Correctness

A third narrated event is found in Webster’s comparison of his book to a religious text like the Bible. Prior to actually stating the claim, though, he gives another observation that cannot be overlooked: the fact that language spread may contribute to the spread of religion. Webster hopes this book will “fix the pronunciation of words, facilitate the acquisition of it both by foreigners and our own children, and probably contribute to the propagation of the English language, and of christianity among distant nations” (6). Here citing a direct correlation between the propagation of the English language and the christianization of those populations to whom it spreads, Webster is very clearly connecting morality and religious holiness to proper use of language – and not just any language, for that matter, but the English language as it is described in this book. This makes his comment at the end of the preface more telling, as he calls this text “the most important class-book, not of a religious character, which the youth of our country are destined to use” (7). Another blatantly direct comparison, in this case, Webster likens his book to the most important book children can read – presumably, the Bible. After the Bible and other religious texts comes The Elementary Spelling Book in terms of importance to a child’s education. The self-importance which Noah accords himself is truly discomfiting.