“Who taught millions to read but not one to sin
"Who taught millions to read but not one to sin."

PORTRAIT OF NOAH WEBSTER, LL.D.

"Only two men have stood on the New World whose fame is so sure to last. Colum-
bus its discoverer, and Washington its savior, Webster is and will be its great teach-
er ; these three make our trinity of fame."

This eminent lexicographer was born at West Hartford, Connecticut, October
16, 1758. He entered Yale College in 1774, and graduating four years after, com-
menced the study of law, earning his support by school-teaching. In 1783, he
issued the first Spelling Book published in the United States ; he was the author
of an English Grammar, a History of the United States, and some minor treatises ;
but the great achievement of his life, that which will perpetuate his name, was his
American Dictionary of the English Language, which is now known as " Webster’s
American Quarto, Unabridged." He was connected with the newspaper press in
New York in 1793, subsequently he resided in Amherst, Massachusetts, and finally
settled in New Haven, Connecticut, representing the two latter places in the state
legislatures several years. Dr. Webster died after a short illness on the 28th of
May, 1843, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He will long be remembered by
many as the youthful soldier, the thoughtful politician, the laborious lexicogra-
pher, and the Christian moralist " Who taught millions to read but not one to sin."

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