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Noah Webster's Reply |
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ALTHOUGH NOAH WEBSTER was born and raised in West Hartford, the man who has been called "the father of his country's language" did most of the work on his great American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) while living in New Haven. Known by his contemporaries for his disciplined concentration, massive intellect and vast learning, Webster may have been the subject of many stories created by awed but iconoclastic fellow citizens and designed -- as these kinds of tales usually are -- to exploit the popular image of The Famous and to bring the god-like a bit closer to earth. While Noah Webster anecdotes may have disappeared from oral tradition, the following example of the genre should not be permitted to die. It seems that among the servants in the New Haven home of Noah and Maria Greenleaf Webster there chanced to be a pretty young upstairs maid. One day, Maria Webster wanted to give some instructions to the servant girl, but couldn't find her anywhere. The only room in the house where she hadn't looked, of course, was Noah's study, because she certainly didn't want to interrupt her husband at his scholarly work. Finally, in desperation Mrs. Webster decided to check her husband's room. She opened the door quietly and discovered the maid all right: she and Noah were engaged in a rather passionate kiss! Maria Webster gasped and cried out, "Why, Noah, I am... surprised." Her husband turned slowly toward the door, releasing his grip on the girl, if not on his faculties, and replied, "I beg to differ with you, my dear. I am surprised. You are astonished."
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