Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1864-11-12
THE "BEsI" COME AT LAST.

AN AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE En-
aLrsu LANGUAGE; by Noah Wsbstcr;L
LID. Thoroughly revised, and greatly
enlarged and improved, by Chauncey
A. Goodrich, D. D., L l.. d and Noah
Porter ID d. Springfeld G, G Mer-
riam. 1864. For sale by Messrs. Mason
& llamliu. PIP. l94O.
We have won our scars,if not our spurs
in the great Dictionary war; and have
urged, with an honest conscience, the use
of Webster NJ abridged, as having, in
many important points, superiority over
, Worcester, and every competitor. We
never C aimed, however, that the Webster
was perfect indeed; We have had perpet
ual Consciousness Of some imperfrctions
in i, which materially aloyed its excel
lcuce We have regarded it as immeas
u.blr rupcrior to AM ohtr manual in its
defntiou-i0 10 Al important tcspest, the
great Thing in such Worthwhile VIC
have felt that in the department oil etymol-
" WINS lhI U'Utuu wv aSCD 's 'huS'
necessarily he true Of any work roupiled
almost before the recent science Of COM
paralivc Philology clmc into eNi'terce at
all We ict also that v orrestor-roor
aud uumporta't as Of its pictorial Illus
tralionS were--haG rct an advantage in
having II EN- ipcopr rat' d into TIVE text,
where the b s'itst glance could grasp, at
ouce, auy contribution made Ivy them to
the comprehension OF the term which they
w,re intended 10 present To 'bc eye. We
shopd have publicly referred to those-and
othcr-defects, and urged some action on
the part Of the Mcs.rs Merriam upon
them, had &e not kun@f tE8t another
edition-or rather ,an entire reconstruction
of tue work was In process in the hands
of a multitude OF competent 'cholars who
would, in due time, give US a Webster,
with its rxcelleDcies heightened, and its de-
fcc,s r, moved that should satisfy the needs
of the tine aud be the un nqueslioncd indis
pcnsabIe companion Of the scholar libary
table. This work has now been accom-
plished aud the Itw American Dictionary
spite Of th. war, aud the paper famine,
an1 every other obstacle lies before us.
We will tnd,avor briefly to indicate
d those features by which this edition differs
from the best that has prece ded il.
;, l. In the department of Etymology -
q As we have said, this was defective il
| former editions judged by the standard o
the present While eminen'ly successful
and respectable thirty years ago, the i'm
, tNensc progress of research in this direc
ton, and the (almost) creation of The
science of Comparative Phiology, with it
new light ION Indo European sources
has made it Indispensable that in this re
spect the Dictionary should be re written
!, Accordingly the services Of DR.. Q. A. L
i. Main, of Bcrlin-whose .emincnce as
r. comparative PhiloIogist. lis we'll known
were secured, and he has spent five year
r. in revseiug and recreating this departmen
g of this Dictionary which is now confident
It y regarded as unapproachfd in excellenc
IS by any other work of the sort, whatsoeV
er.
2. In the department Of de6nition,wher
IS, DR.. Webster's greatest excellence wa
manifested, there has been also great I'm
nroyenent made 70! this issue. Not onI
are new words defined, and newly'curreI
senses Of old words ts. G. "contraband
in gen, Butlct's sense (by the way, is thi
IN definition right Is not "contraband
in fyeed slave and, il not, it is necessarlI
on on negro slave p ] added, but Dr. Webster
es taulologies (if that is not too harsh tern
's iee are remedied, and his specifications
,ss sense often rendered more natural an
: significant by arrangement. A sing
- illustration will point out what VIC mea
HOLINESS
as. Ed,ion of 1850 + New edition
raa &c Of heing holy Il The state quality
all i,y or integrity OF moralIbcing holy purity or
ara PuI,' fromIlcgry of moral ChaTactC
,es Appiied tOIfrcedOm from sin sancti
st M Srr,,s Bring holiness "He see peIy aad holm
,fs rsrSect mn ity oI rdicuIed as morOse sing
nenot:s ~ moral chn rncIeT r. az tiles Rogers!
. in.ssLf @ 81 Sis essential attr VIZ Applied 10 the 81
Ias Im1 " " RENE Being, holiness
tTio i, Ike thse glorious Rotes perfect purity, or
ice iryolntss - EIed' fr' "GIlV VI H'O"' '"a'"