The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1877-05-30
The Dictionary as an Instructor.


We notice rs q matter we'll worth
mentioning. that at the recent great
publishers trade sale in New York,
the hooks that were. most in demand
and brought the best prices were Web.
stcr's Dictionaries, from the famous
Quarto to the neat aud handy pocket
edition. This fact is a good indica-
ton of the almost universal popular.
ty of these books, aud Of the growing
public demand for them. 1t indicates
also a fact of far greater Importance,
and that is the interest the people are
taking in the study Of their own lam
guage. This is encouraging, as there
is no branch of education that is now
and has been SO much neglected as
the common branches of spelling and
defining. 1t is often astonishing and
grievous to see how grossly ignorant
are children and youth, aud even men
and women, of the photography, pro.
nunciation and meaning of ordinary
words and phrases. They cannot ex.
press their thoughts for the want of
words, and often they express thoughts
very different from what they intend,
because they do not understand the
words they employ. And very fire.
quently, from the same cause, they
take no idea, or wrong ideas, from
what they read or hear.
The remedy for these evils is the
proper training in the study of words,
by the use of the Dictionary, and this
training should begin as soon as the
child can distinguish between one word
and another, and continue indefinite
ly. The apparatus for this study
should, of course, be the most COM
plete and thorough to be had, and this
is abundantly supplied in Webster's
Dictionaries, which are Justly recogniz.
ed, wherever our language is spoken,
as the standard authority in English.
Parents and teachers can in no other
way so effectually or so cheaply pro-
mote tue educational interests Of their
children, when of suitable age, as by
putting in their hands any one of
Webster's School Dictionaries, for dai.
ly use in conRection with the study of
their lessons, and by placing on the
family center table, or the teachers
desk as the authoritative guide and
standard, a copy of the Unabridged.
The unabridged contains 5000 H.
lastratiOns, over 1l4,000 words in its
vocabularieS, and 10000 words aud
meanings not in any ether Dictiona-
ry; the abridged editions comprise
"The Primary" which has the largest
sale, and which has some capital rules
for spelling. "The Common School"
is similar, but larger, with tables of
synonyms, &c. THE High School, 4"
still fuller, with many useful tables !;
"The Academic" and Counting
house" for advanced schools and for
general home and business use. The
latter has some specially valuable
commercial and financial tables The
little "Pocket" edition, with its bright
gilt edges and morocco binding, is
truly an invaluable pocket compan-
ion. 1t contains more than $4,000
words, rules for spelling, many alb.
breyiations, words and phrases, pro.
verbs, etc, ordinarily met with in the
Greek, Latin and Modern languages.
Whether it is convenient or not to
have copies of any Of the other books
of the series, we certainly recommend
that all should possess a copy of the
Pocket, which, when not otherwise OBJ
tainable, may be had by mail. by in
| closinU 81 90 IN tho nuhiisharc
MEssRs. IvIsoY, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR
d Co., 13S and l40 Grand Street,
New YORK.