4. A large proportion of the definitions are illustrated by sentences and phrases, showing the proper manner of using the words defined.
5. The present is a readable book of definitions, a claim which can be made in behalf of no other work extant, since no dictionary or definer, in which the words are arranged alphabetically, can be used in any other way than as a book of reference. The man who undertook to read the dictionary through thought that the subject changed too frequently and too abruptly, and soon abandoned the enterprise. The young lady who undertook to read the same book, found the stories too short to be interesting. The topical arrangement of the present work gives connection and continuity to the subjects, and weaves the young lady's very short stories into entertaining tales of a respectable length.
6. A common dictionary may be compared to a cabinet of minerals, in which the specimens are arranged according to their shape, size, or color, and not according to their chemical nature. The object of the present undertaking is to sort the specimens, and to arrange them according to their natural affinities, assigning to the earths, the metallic ores, and the precious stones distinct compartments, and appropriating a separate shelf to each species, with its several varieties.
In conclusion, the author would say, that if the present volume shall be found adapted to give interest to what has hitherto been regarded by most persons as a dry branch of learning, and to induce a more general attention to the all-important but much-neglected study of words, the object which prompted the preparation of the volume will have been attained.
Lancaster, O., Jan. 2, 1860.
