te a suspicion that a
deliberately adopted system of crimping had been carried on within the
tempting domains of the natural sciences, to furnish recruits for this
enormous army of vocables. But we do not find, upon a pretty careful
examination, that many terms of this sort have been admitted which are
not fairly entitled to a place in a popular lexicon.

In the matter of definition, we can unqualifiedly commend the principles
by which the editor and his coadjutors appear to have been guided,
notwithstanding an occasional failure to carry out these principles with
entire consistency. The crying fault of mistaking different applications
of a meaning of a word for essentially different significations--the
head and front of Dr. Webster's offending as a definer, and not of Dr.
Webster only, but of almost all other lexicographers--has generally been
avoided in this edition. The philosophical analysis, the orderly
arrangement of meanings, the simplicity, comprehensiveness, and
precision of statement, the freedom from prejudice, crotchets, and
dogmatism, the good taste and good sense, which characterize this
portion of the work, are deserving of the fullest recognition and the
highest praise.

In the department of etymology, the revision has been thorough indeed,
and, as all the world knows, the Dictionary stood sadly enough in need
of it. But we were not prepared for so entire and fearless an
overhauling of Dr. Webster's "Old Curiosity Shop," or for a contribution
to philological science so valuable and original. It is not too much to
say that no other English dictionary, and no special treatise on English
etymology, that has yet appeared, can compare with it. As a fitting
introduction to the subject, a "Brief History of the English Language,"
by Professor James Hadley, is prefixed to the vocabulary, and will well
repay careful study.

No excellences, however, we apprehend, in definition or etymology will
reconcile scholars to those peculiarities of spelling which are commonly
known as Websterianisms, and which, with a few exceptions, are retained
in the edition before us. The pages of this magazine are evidence that
we ourselves regard them with no favor. But we are bound, in common
honesty, to state, that, in every case in which Dr. Webster's
orthography is given, it is accompanied by the common spelling, and
thus the user of the book is left at liberty to take his choice of
modes. We are also bound, in common fairness,