of the original author. The years expended by Prof. G. upon the revision of the work, have doubtless done more for its perfection than a much longer space of time, similarly employed, during any part of its history. "Including the time," says Prof. G., "bestowed by myself and my two assistants, the labor of about eight years has been employed in this task. Every page has been collated with the latest works on the several departments, (between twenty and thirty in number), and no efforts within my power have been spared, to bring down the work to the present state of science and literature. In doing so, however, I have not relied on myself alone, nor the books which I consulted, to secure the accuracy to be desired. In the most important branches of science, I have enjoyed the assistance of my colleagues and of other professional men, not for mere consultation occasionally, but for the actual revision of all the articles; and the corrections have been made under their direction. In this way I have aimed to give this revised edition the advantages of an encyclopædia, as to the accuracy arising from the union of many able men in its preparation. It is the first attempt of the kind, so far as I am informed, in respect to a dictionary of the English language."

The present edition has several improvements upon those which have preceded it. We have already alluded to the subject of pronunciation. We are glad to observe that the spelling of several words which Dr. Webster had changed from the prevailing use, in conformity with etymology or analogy, has been restored. At the present advanced state of English literature, many of the irregularities of our orthography have become so fixed that it is in vain to attempt to alter them. It is better to submit to them, therefore, than by any violent effort, which public taste will not sanction, to attempt their removal. They cause us no serious inconvenience; and though at war with the principles of English orthography, we fall into them by use as readily and as easily as if they were perfectly regular.

The following statements in respect to orthography, from the Preface of Professor Goodrich, may perhaps gratify those of our readers who cannot immediately possess themselves of the dictionary itself.

"In reference to orthography, some important alterations have been made, but in strict conformity, it is believed, with the author's principles on this subject. The changes in our orthography, recommended by Dr. Webster, are of two distinct kinds, and rest on very different grounds. These it may be proper for a moment to consider. His main principle was, that the tendencies of our language to greater simplicity and broader analogies, ought to be watched and cherished with the utmost care.

"We felt, therefore, that whenever a movement towards wider analogies and more general rules, had advanced so far as to leave but few exceptions to impede its progress, those exceptions ought to be set aside at once, and the analogy rendered complete. On this ground, he rejected the u from such words as favour, labour, &c. Of these we have a large number, which came to us, in most cases, from Latin terminations in or through the Norman French, but encumbered with a silent u, as in emperour, authours, editours, &c. From this entire class, except about twenty words, the u had been gradually dropped; and, in respect to these, scarcely any two persons can be found, however strenuous for retaining it, who are in practice consistent with each other or with themselves, as to the words in which this letter is used. In fact, we have reached a point where, unless we take Webster, and the dictionaries which agree with him, as our guide, we have no standard on the subject; for Johnson, Walker, and others, retain the u in numerous words, into which no one would think of introducing it at the present day. Public convenience, therefore, demands that we do at once what must ultimately be done. No one can believe, that the progress of our language will be arrested on this subject. The u will speedily be omitted in all words of this class, unless from the sacredness of its association, it be retained in Saviour, which may stand for a time as a solitary exception. Nor is it Dr. Webster who is the innovator in this case, but the English mind, which has for two centuries been throwing off a useless encumbrance, and moving steadily on toward greater simplicity in the structure of our language. Such, too, is the case with certain terminations in re pronounced like er, as centre, metre, &c. We have numerous words of this class derived from the French, all of which originally ended in re, as cider (cidre), chamber (chambre), &c. These have been gradually conformed to the English spelling and pronunciation, till the number in re is reduced to not far from twenty words, with their derivatives; and in respect to them also, the process is still going on-center is, to a considerable extent, the spelling of the best mathematical writers-meter is the word given by Walker in his Rhyming Dictionary, from a sense of the gross inconsistency of attaching to this word, and its derivative diameter, a different termination. Others are gradually undergoing the same change; Dr. Webster proposes, therefore, to complete the analogy at once, and conform the spelling of the few that remain to the general principles of our language. Acre, lucre, and massacre, present the only difficulty, from their liability, if changed, to be mispronounced, cand may therefore be suffered to stand as necessary exceptions. AnHis departure from the principles of English orthography, which Dr. wisely has endeavored to correct, is one that was pointed out by in very emphatic terms, nearly fifty years ago. The principle

in question is this-that, in adding to a word the formatives ing, ed, er, &c., a single consonant (if one precedes) is doubled, and when the accent falls on the last syllable, as in forgetting, beginning, &c., but is not doubled when the accent falls on any of the preceding syllables, as in gardening, &c. Walker, in his fifth Aphorism, says, 'Dr. Lowth justly remarks, that an error frequently takes place in the words worshipping, counselling, &c., which, having the accent on the first syllable, ought to be written worshiping, counseling. An ignorance of this rule has led many to write bigotted for bigoted; and from this spelling has frequently arisen a false pronunciation. But no letter seems to be more frequently doubled improperly than 7. Why we should write libelling, levelling, revelling, and yet offering, suffering, reasoning, I am totally at a loss to determine; and unless I can give a better plea than any other letter of the alphabet, for being doubled in this situation, I must, in the style of Lucian in his trial of the letter T, declare for an expulsion.' These were the deliberate and latest opinions of Walker. If he had taken the trouble to carry them into his vocabulary, instead of relying on a mere remark of this kind for the correction of the errorif he had simply stated, under about forty verbs, how the participle should be spelt (for he did not give participles in his dictionary), and had altered six or eight words, as worshipper into worshiper, traveller into traveler, &c., the error would probably, by this time, have been wholly eradicated from our orthography; and Dr. Webster would have escaped much ignorant vituperation, for following in the footsteps of Walker and Lowth. Walker also says, in his Aphorisms, 'Why should we not write dullness, fullness, skillful, willful, as well as stiffness, gruffness? The principles of our language plainly require us to do so; and Dr. Webster felt that the change might easily be made. The words which need to be reduced to this analogy are only about eight in number, including installment, inthrallment, which, if spelt with a single l, are liable to be mispronounced instal-ment, &c. Again, the words expense, license, recompense, which formerly had a c in the second syllable, have now taken an s, because the latter consonant is the only one used in the derivatives, as expensive, &c. A similar change is needed in only three words more to complete the analogy, namely, defense, offense, and pretense; and these Dr. Webster has changed. It is sometimes asked, 'Why not change fence also?' For the simple reason, that its derivatives are spelt with a c, as fenced, fencing, and the word therefore stands regularly with others of its own class. Finally Dr. Webster proposed to drop the u in mould and moult, because it has been dropped from gold, and all other words of the same ending. Such are the principal changes under this head, introduced by Dr. Webster into his dictionary. In the present edition the words are spelt in both ways, for the convenience of the public, except in cases where this seemed to be unnecessary, or was found to be inconvenient. These changes, considering the difficulty that always belongs to such a subject, have met with far more favor from the public than was reasonably to be expected. Most of them have been extensively adopted in our country. They are gaining ground daily, as the reasons by which they are supported are more generally understood; and it is confidently believed that, being founded in established

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analogies, and intended merely to repress irregularities and remove petty exceptions, they must ultimately prevail.

"The other class of changes mentioned above, rests on a different basis-that of etymology. These will be estimated very differently, according to the acquaintance of different persons with the languages from which the words are derived.

"When Dr. Webster substituted bridegoom for bridegroom, and fether for feather, &c., the German critics highly applauded the change. They predicted its speedy and universal reception, because similar improvements, on a much broader scale, had been easily made in their language. But Dr. Webster found the case to be widely different among us. After an experiment of twelve years, he restored the old orthography to a considerable number of such words.

"In the present edition, it is restored in respect to nearly all that remain, from the full conviction that, however desirable these changes may be in themselves considered, as they do not relate to the general analogies of the language, and cannot be duly appreciated by the body of the people, they will never be generally received."

Besides the addition of many new words, a great number of words have been re-defined, with greater accuracy. To the definitions of many words, new shades of meaning have been added. These improvements must have been the result of close reasoning and the most exact scrutiny, and they essentially increase the value of the work.

The latter part of the dictionary is enriched by an extended collection of geographical names, with their pronunciation, covering full forty pages. This is preceded by a few pages, exhibiting the pronunciation of the various letters and combinations of letters in the principal European languages. With this apparatus, a general reader, not acquainted with foreign tongues, will find little difficulty in pronouncing intelligibly and correctly most proper names that occur, in accordance with the principles of the languages to which they belong.

The dictionary of Dr. Webster is a monument of learning and industry-one of the most useful gifts he could confer on his country, and one of the brightest ornaments of our literary hemisphere. We need not here make extended comparisons with other works of a similar character. With a single exception, (Mr. Worcester's,) Dr. Webster's dictionary stands on a higher ground than any of them. The keen accuracy and exquisite taste of Mr. Worcester, in this department, would not easily permit him to be excelled. Both are worthy of all praise. Combining the philosophical principle of Richardson with the

more popular methods of the common school dictionaries, and embracing all that could come into the shape of a definition from the larger cyclopædias and scientific manuals, Dr. Webster has presented us, in a single volume, all that could be reasonably desired in a work of this nature. The results of a protracted lifetime of diligent and attentive study are condensed into a book, useful alike to the student and the professional man, the merchant and the mechanic, the artist and the farmer, the ignorant and the learned. England and America will alike honor such a man. His name is identified with his vernacular And when the growing millions of our population shall reach, in wealthy cities and in peaceful and thriving villages, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, through the whole wide-spread dominion he will be known and reverenced. The helper and friend, whose name greeted the eye of children, sixty years since, at the first round of the ladder of learning, will be, for hundreds of years to come, among the most useful and instructive teachers in the libraries of the learned.