Table of the Alphabet. A as in the English words far, father, &c. (But see the note on the vowels.) B as in English, French, &c. D (the same). E as in the English word there ; and also short e, as in met, &c. F as in English, &c. G English g hard, as in game, gone, &c. H an aspiration as in English, &c. I as in marine, machine (or English ee); and also short i in him. K as in English. L (the same). M (the same). N (the same). O English long 0, as in robe ; and also the o in some, among, above, &c., which is equivalent to the English short u in rub, tun, &c. As, however, we cannot accustom our ears familiarly to distinguish, nor our organs of speech to utter with precision, all these slightly-differing sounds, so we need no distinctive characters to represent them to the eye; but it will be sufficient in practice to have characters for the principal sounds (as we may call them) in each series, just as, in the prismatic series of colors, we content ourselves with a few names to denote one principal shade of each color, without fruitlessly attempting to devise terms of theoretical nicety, to describe the innumerable shades on either side of the principal one from which we set out. If we now recur for a moment to the series above denoted by A, we find on one side of it a series which we denote by the letter 0, and, on the other side, a series which we denote by the letter E. In the former we begin with the sound of o in morn, which might be written with au or av (or with a alone, if we had been accustomed to write this word with that letter, as we do the word war), and then we proceed to the sound which it has in more, till we arrive at that which it has in move; which point may be considered, practically speaking, as forming the end of one series and the beginning of another, which is represented by the letter U; and these two contiguous extremes are sometimes represented by o and sometimes by u; that is, our oo. It we now take the other side of the series, represented as above by A, and set out from the sound which that letter has in the word fate, we enter upon a series, of which the letter E may be called the representative, beginning with its sound in the word met, which is the short sound of a in fate ; and this series, proceeding imperceptibly through various gradations, at length vanishes in the simple, unequivocal sound of ee, which foreigu nations denote by the third vowel, 1. The following table will perhaps make these remarks more intelligible: Series of the Letter A. FAR FAT FATE THERE Series of E. THERE THESE MARINE, &c. RULE, &c. Now, in writing the Indian languages, it will often be found extremely difficult to decide, in each series of the vowel sounds, to what extent, on each side of the principal or middle point (as I have called it), we shall use the same vowel character, or when we shall have recourse to the letter which is the representative of the next adjacent series. From these considerations in the case of the vowel A, though we have no difficulty in using it to denote the sound of a in far, yet, when we proceed in the series to the full, broad sound which it has in fall, we feel a repugnance (arising from old habits in our own language) to denoting that sound by the single vowel, and are rather inclined to express it by If it should be thought that it might be denoted by 0 (as in for), it will be obvious that this would only be throwing the same difficulty into another series, and we should then have to decide again, how far the letter o shall be employed in that series, on each side of its principal sound of o in Now this broad sound (aw), though found in the European languages, is not commonly represented in them by the letter A; and, therefore, foreigners who should attempt to read any Indian language, in which the simple a was employed to denole the sound aw, would inevitably be misled, and pronounce the a in father. It has, therefore, seemed to me better, in an alphabet designed for gen. eral use, to employ aw to denote this broad sound, and to reserve the single letter a to denote its common foreign sound, as in father. I should use are, and not au, because the latter has already the established power of a diphthong in the foreign languages, equivalent to our diphthong ow in now, how, &c., but aw, being a combination not in common use, would attract the attention of the foreign reader as a new character, and would not lead him into error. Mr. Du Ponceau, after much reflection, prefers using a alone for the sound of aw, and then denoting the sound of a in father by the diphthong o. His opinion much diminisbes the confidence I have had in my own; but as my plan was founded upon the idea of taking the common European sounds of the vowels as the basis of the alphabet, I have thought it would be too great a departure from it, if I should give to the vowel a any other than such common sound. cu or an. more. i P as in English, &c. &c. Z as in the English, &c. Nasals. A as in ang (sounding the a itself as in father). E long, as in eyng (pronouncing the ey, as they); and short, as in the word ginseng ; Portuguese em final. Į long, as in eeng; and short, as in ing ; Portuguese im final. O long, as in owng (sounding the ou as in own); French on; Portuguese om final. This character will also be used for o short nasalized, which is very nearly the same with ong in among, as this latter is equivalent to ung in lung, &c. See Walker's Dict., Principles, No. 165. Ụ as in oong ; Portuguese um final. To these should be added a character for the nasal awng or ong, which corresponds to our o in for, nor, &c. And, as I have proposed to denote this vocal sound, when not nasalized, by aw, so it would be most strictly conformable to my plan, to denote the same vocal sound, when it is nasalized, by ay or ay. But perhaps the letter a itself, with the cedilla (g), may be used without inconvenience for this broad nasal sound; and we may still, in the common vowels, reserve the simple a to denote the sound it has in the word father, and not the sound of aw. For it may be found, that the first nasal sound in this table is not common in the Indian languages; in which case it would be best to use the simple g for the broad nasal here mentioned. IU YU Diphthongs. English u in pure ; French iou. Additional Consonants. as in the English words this, that; the s of the modern Greeks. DS, DZ; TS, Tz, English ts in the proper name Betsy; German and Italian z ; Ger man c before the vowels e and i; Polish c before all the vowels; Russian Tsi. These four compounds being nearly alike (as Mr. Du Ponceau justly observes to me), the ear of the writer must direct him which to use, as the respective consonants predominate. GH, See kh, below. oz, or os, English x in example, exact. Hw, English wh in what, when. KH, guttural, like the Greek x; Spanish t, g and j; German ch; Dutch gh. I have given the preference to kk for the purpose of expressing this guttural sound ; but gh, pronounced as the Irish do in their name Drogheda, &c., may be better in certain cases where this guttural partakes more of the flat sound, g, than of the sharp one, k. It may be observed, that gh has been already used in some of the books printed for the use of the Indians. ks, English x in marim, exercise. KSH, xi in complexion; tu in luxury. The formation of this combination would be obvious; but as the sound is actually often used in the Del aware language, I have thought it best to notice it. Kw, English qu. . LY, or LI, ... as in the English word steelyard; French I mouillée ; Spanish U ; Por tuguese lh ; Italian gl before i. NY, or NI, ... as in the English proper name Bunyan, and the words onion, opinion, &c. TH, in the English word thin ; Greek 9. TS, See ds, above. English ch in chair ; Spanish ch in much; Italian c before e and i; German tsch; Russian q. WT, : .. as in the Delaware language. ZH, as s in pleasure ; French and Portuguese j; Polish z, with a comma over it (2). WRITING Pens. (See Pens, Writing.) kingdom of the western part of Germa WrY-Neck (yunx torquilla); a small ny, bounded by Bavaria on the east, and European bird, related to and having Baden on the west, and bordering on lake some of the habits of the woodpeckers; Constance on the south. It is of an obbut the tail is soft, and cannot serve in long form, extending from lon. 8° to 10° any way as a support; and it never strikes 30 E., and from lat. 45° 36 to 49° 45' N. the bark of trees with its bill. It also It forms part of the old circle of Suabia, differs widely in its appearance, the plu- and covers an area of 7240 square miles. mage being mottled somewhat in the It is divided into four provinces, the same manner as that of the whip-poor- Neckar, the Schwarzwald, the Danube will. The name is derived from a habit and the Jaxt, with a population, in 1829, of twisting its neck in a singular man- • of 1,562,033' souls, of whom 1,506,270 ner. were Germans, 2400 Waldenses, and WULFILAS. _(See Ulfilas.) 9100 Jews. The religion of the great WURMSER, Dagobert Sigismond, count majority of the people is Protestant: there von, Austrian general field-marshal, was are, also, . 478,444 Catholics. There is born of a rich Alsatian family, in 1724, one university at Tübingen, with, in 1830, and, having early entered the Austrian 887 students; and there is also a considerservice, was engaged through the whole able number of lyceums, gymnasia and of the seven years' war; at the close of high schools, with 2187 common schools which he held the rank of major. In the (Volkschulen). The chief town and royal war of the Bavarian succession (see Ba- residence is Stuttgart, with a population varia), he commanded an army in Bohe- of 31,000: the other principal places are mia, and, in 1779 (Jan. 18), gained some Ulm (12,049), Reutlingen (10,180), Heiladvantages over the Prussians at Habel- bronn, Tübingen, Hall, Esslingen, Ludschwerd. The peace of Teschen (q. v.) wigsburg, Rothenburg and Gmünd. The soon after put an end to hostilities. On great natural features of this country are the breaking out of the war against iwo ranges of mountains, one called the France, Wurmser commanded a diyision Black Forest, or Schwarzwald, extending of the Austrian army, and passed the along the western frontier, the other callRhine March 31, 1793. After gaining ed the Suabian or Würtemberg Alp, an some unimportant advantages, he was insulated range of rocky hills, destitute compelled to recross the Rhine, towards of wood, beginning at Rotweil, and travthe close of the year, and was recalled ersing the kingdom in a north-east direcfrom his command. 'n August, 1795, he tion. On these lofty tracts, the climate rejoined the army, and captured Manheim is cold and bleak; but the rest of the Nov. 22. In the summer of the next country is agreeably diversified with hills year, he took the command of the army of moderate elevation, and pleasant valof Italy, and forced his way to Mantua, leys, which enjoy a mild and pleasant cliinto which he threw himself Sept. 30. mate. The principal rivers are the DanHere he was finally obliged to surrender ube and Neckar, also the Enz, Muhr, to the French troops, after a siege of nine Kocker, Jaxt and Tauber. Würtemberg, months. After his return to Vienna, he with the exception of the two mountainwas appointed to the command in Hun- ous ranges, is one of the most fertile and gary, but died before he could leave Vi- best cultivated parts of Germany. It enna, of the consequence of his priva- produces the various kinds of grain ; wine, tions and sufferings in Mantua, in the the best qualities known abroad under summer of 1797. the name of the Neckar wine; fruits of WÜRTEMBERG, or WIRTEMBERG; a various kinds. The minerals are iron, silver, copper, coal and porcelain. The tect. This branch of revenue was charged Black Forest produces abundance of pine with the expenses of the government. and fir, considerable quantities of which Separate from this was the income of the are exported. The revenue, in 1830, patrimonial estates of the family. Such amounted to 27,887,145 guilders; the a separation is seldom found elsewhere, expenditure to 27,868,136 guilders, the especially at so early a period. Taxes were public debt to 28,604,350. The standing to be raised only when the revenue was army, in time of war, is composed of insufficient. This state of things began 16,824 men, the peace establishment, of with count Ulrich, who acquired distinc4906, the contingent to the forces of the tion in the iniddle of the thirteenth cenGerman confederation, of 13,955. The tury. Germany was then without a bead. king of Würtemberg has the sixth vote The kings and emperors of Germany, in the German diet, and four votes in the · from the death of Frederic II (q. v.) to plenum. The government is a constitu- Rodolph ot' Hapsburg (q. v.), were mere tional monarchy: the constitution was shadows. Ulrich died in " 1265. His adopted Sept. 25, 1819. The king shares successor, count Eberhard, doubled the the legislative power, and the right of im- possessions which he had received from posing taxes, with the estates, which con- his father. He had many feuds with sist of two chambers or houses, and pos- the emperors Rodolph, Adolphus of sesses the entire executive power. The Nassau, and Albert of Austria. The emcrown is hereditary in the male line, but, peror Henry of Luxemburg put him unin case of the failure of males, passes tó der the ban of the empire, and he was the females. The upper chamber is com- attacked from all sides, so that he fled to posed of the princes of the blood, of the the margrave of Baden. But Henry VII heads of the mediatized families, and of died in Italy, and Eberhard recovered all members called to sit by the king. The that he had lost. His son Ulrich purlower chamber, or chamber of deputies, chased new territories, among which was is composed of thirteen deputies, chosen Tübingen. (q. v.). His son Eberhard by the nobility, who have the right of der Greiner, a knight known all over judicial jurisdiction, six deputies of the Germany, purchased, during his reign, clerg uties of seven towns, and from 1344 to 1392, about twenty towns deputies of the sixty-three bailiwics of the in whole or in part, and a number of vilkingdom. The reigning king, William I, lages, &c., and maintained what he had born 1781, ascended the throne in 1816. acquired in a constant struggle with the By his third wife he has one son, Fred- free imperial cities of Suabia. His suceric, the crown prince, or heir apparent, cessors continued to increase their posborn 1823. His predecessor on the throne sessions almost down to the elevation of was Frederic, declared king of Würtem- the Würtemberg territories into a duchy, berg in 1805. profiting by the spendthrift habits of their Würtemberg, History of. The origin neighbors, and seizing the wealth of the of the kingdom of Würtemberg, more convents and free cities when they found properly Wirtemberg, * is as follows. Lords opportunity. But the chief cause of the of Würtemberg are first mentioned to- gradual rise of this family was the cirward the end of the eleventh century: cumstance that its territory remained undown to the middle of the thirteenth cen- divided. The first division took place in tury this family seldom appears; but from 1442 ; but it lasted only to 1482, and, by that time, the Suabian history is full of the treaty of Münsingen, in the same their conquests and compacts. The counts year, the indivisibility of the territory beof Würtemberg were not, like other came a family law. The emperor Maxicounts of the empire, originally officers milian, in 1495, made it a duchy; and of the emperor. They were the pro- Würtemberg became now the name of a prietors of extensive domains, and, by country. The dukes soon acquired imway of honor, called counts. The empe- portance as members of the empire. To rors infeoffed them at a later period. Eberhard, the same duke who made the Besides the revenue which they derived family law just mentioned, the people of from their estates, they received a con- Würtemberg owe the first steps towards siderable income from convents, towns a constitution founded upon compact. and villages, which they agreed to pro- Eberhard had, in consequence of a family Würtemberg was originally the name of a quarrel, convoked deputies of the citizens castle near Stuttgart. Hence it became the name for the settlement of public affairs, in 1482. of a family, then of a duchy, and at last of a On this occasion, it was solemnly stipulatkingdom. ed that every thing done in future by the rulers of Würtemberg for the advantage that, from 1733 to 1797, the princes were of the country, should be done with the Catholic. Under the reign of duke coöperation of the prelates, counsellors Charles Alexander, a Jew, named Süss, and deputies. The country nobility was ruined the finances, of which he was minexcluded at its own desire. Lutheranism ister. He was hanged by Charles's sucwas introduced under Christopher (q. v.), cessor. Through a Prussian princess, the and through him and his successors the mother of Frederic Eugene, Protestantism “ permanent delegations” (standing com- became again the religion of the rulers. mittees) and the separate treasury acquired During the government of Frederic, the completeness and stability. Frederic, at French republic took possession of the the beginning of the seventeenth century, Würtemberg territories on the left bank and Charles, in the middle of the eigh- of the Rhine, and repeatedly occupied the teenth, attempted to overturn the consti- duchy. His son, subsequently king Fredtution, but in vain. It was not till 1806, eric I, was indemnified by an additional that the government became an absolute territory, containing 12,000 inhabitants. monarchy, after the constitution had lost He himself was made elector. (q. v.) In much of its efficacy and estimation in the 1805, he took part with France in the last years of the reign of Charles. The war with Austria ; in return for which thirty years' war, so ruinous to all Ger- he was made king, with sovereign power, many, was particularly disastrous to and received an addition to his territory, Würtemberg. Between 1634 and 1641, which gave him 200,000 new subjects. the population sunk from about 330,000 As soon as the empire was dissolved, the men to 48,000. All who were able left new king became a member of the conthe country: great numbers were de- federation of the Rhine (see the article), stroyed in battle or by famine and pesti- and, as such, took part in all the wars of lence: towns and villages lay deserted France, except that with Spain. Subseand in ruins. To the Swedes, under the quently to the last war between France government of the chancellor Oxenstiern, and Austria (1809), the population of the and to the Swedish ministers at Osna- kingdom was increased to 1,350,000. brück, Würtemberg owes her restoration, After the downfall of the French empire, which was effected by the peace of West- the king secured all his acquisitions by phalia. (q. v.) But the reign of Louis joining the allies. Since 1815, WürtemXIV was also a time of great suffering berg, though a small kingdom, has formed for this country; Melac, and other mon- one of the larger states of the Germanic sters, burned and devastated it. During confederacy. Frederic I was a tyrant, the reign of duke Louis, Würtemberg and that to a degree which is rare at the was under the government of a mistress, present time; yet, like many other tyrants, like France in the time of Louis XIV. he was a man of talent, and judiciously From the war of the Spanish succession promoted the good of his subjects, where to the wars of the French revolution, the it was in accordance with his own objects. country was free from foreign enemies. He died in 1816, and was succeeded by Only once, in the second Silesian war, his son William I. When Frederic 1 foreign troops marched through it; and assumed the royal title, in 1806, he deduke Charles took part with Austria clared himself absolute sovereign. The against Prussia in the third Silesian war, peace of Presburg (q. v.) made him such with the hope of being assisted by that in fact. The people of Würtemberg, in power in suppressing the chamber of the confusion of the new order of things, deputies. But his attempt at absolute took the oath of unconditional obedience, power was defeated by the aulic council instead of the foriner constitutional vath. of the empire, under the guarantee of Only two or three persons made some Prussia, Hanover and Denmark, and the opposition. But when the king went, in government became still more limited. 1814, to the congress of Vienna, some The duke at once changed the character voices demanded the old constitution. of his administration, diminished the ex- At this congress, the king, supported by pense of his court, and, during the last Bavaria, opposed Prussia and Hanover, half of his reign, did much good. He which expressed themselves in favor of patronised arts and sciences, though in a the establishment of representative estates somewhat military manner. The Charles throughout Germany. But he soon deacademy (see Schiller, and Dannecker) clared that he intended to give a new was founded by him. The population constitution, and offered one in 1815; but rose to 600,000. The religion of the it was rejected. The representatives of country had suffered by the circumstance the people demanded the old constitution, |
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