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WEBSTER'S QUARTO DICTIONARY. This work has assumed at length a permanent form. Whilst the great lexicographer lived, he continued at successive editions, to introduce additions. After his death, the whole work with his latest improvements underwent revision at the hands of his legal and literary executors, and assumed the shape in which it is now offered to the public. Those who buy the work now, have no fear of its being superseded and left comparatively useless on their hands by a new edi tion. As it is, it is likely to continue, without material change. We purposely say nothing of the general merits of Dr. Webster as a lexicographer. No scholar, whatever may be his opinion on this point, would feel his library to be complete without a copy of "The American Dictionary" unabridged.

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Is Cicero's most general formula for the expression of that great principle of Justice, which consists in giving to each his own. Our purpose in the present paragraph, however, is not so general, being limited in fact to the single object of "giving the devil his due"-the printer's devil, we mean. A part, certainly, of the praise awarded to our Magazine for the beauty of its appearance is due to the superior manner in which it is printed. Let any one scrutinize carefully the pages of the Magazine, and observe the clearness and uniformity of the impression, the exactness of the registering, the judiciousness and good taste displayed in the spacing and title-matter, and-what to authors and editors is still more highly prized-the rare accuracy of the proof-reading. As editor, we claim some credit for the appearance of the Magazine in these respects. Yet much is due also to the admirable arrangements of Mr. Sherman's printing-office-an office in which every department of the business, from the delivery of the copy to the handing over of the pressed sheets to the binder, is under an exact system-where, without confusion or the slightest appearance of hurry, about fifty hands are permanently employed, and more than forty reams of paper are printed daily, chiefly on the finer descriptions of work, such as the volumes of the United States Exploring Expedition, the Annuals, the Magazine, &c. Among the achievements of this office, we may mention the beautiful tinted engravings, such as "Spring," in the last number, and the "Washington Monument" in the present, which are printed by Mr. Sherman on a power press propelled by steam-the first time, in the history of the art, in any part of the world, that such a thing has been accomplished. But a few years since the proprietor of this establishment was a journeyman printer, satisfied if he could earn his eight dollars a week. Skill, fidelity in all his engagements, and untiring industry, have placed him at the head of his profession. His office, though not the largest in the United States, is a perfect model in all its departments.

CHEAP POSTAGE.

This subject is again agitating the public mind. The newspaper press in every part of the country is urging the propriety of reducing letter postage to a uniform rate of two cents, and other postage in a like ratio. We do earnestly hope the public opinion on this subject may be so clearly and distinctly expressed, that Congress will be induced to pass a new postage law during the present session. No class of the community suffer such an unequal and oppressive taxation in this respect, as the mailsubscribers of the monthly periodicals. We hope every

one of our subscribers, who receives his Magazine by mail, will take the opportunity to let his wishes and opinions be known in the right quarter. In regard to the general argument, we find the question well put in the following paragraph by our friend, the Editor of the Saturday Courier.

"CAN POSTAGE BE REDUCED TO TWO CENTS?

"This is a question which is frequently asked by those who have not studied the subject; and it gives us pleasure to reply in the affirmative. The old rates of postage, prior to the law of 1845, were so high that the people, refusing to send their letters by the mails, employed private expresses, which carried them much cheaper; and the consequences were, that the letters had decreased from twenty-seven to twenty-four millions, and the revenue in the same proportion. But, under the present rates, the number of letters has increased to sixty-two millions the past year, and the revenue of the Post-Office, after paying all its expenses, has a surplus on hand of six hundred and ninety-one thousand dollars, and, at the end of this fiscal year, the Postmaster-General says there will be over a million of dollars to the credit of the Post-Office Department! So much, then, for the result of the present rates of postage.

"But some of our readers may still ask, Will a further reduction of two cents pay? We answer that this rate has been tried in Great Britain the last ten years, and the result has shown most conclusively that it not only paid the heavy cost of managing their Post-Office, but yielded a revenue to the Crown of four and a half millions of dollars the last year! A population of twenty-seven millions sent through the Post-Office three hundred and fifty-six millions of letters, which yielded a revenue of upwards of ten millions of dollars.

"Perhaps it will still be objected that the population of Great Britain is more dense and compact, and their territory small, compared with ours, and consequently the transportation of their mails cannot cost as much as in the United States, which has a sparse population, and a vast extent of territory. In reply to this, we have it from good authority that the transportation of the mails in the United States costs only ten per cent. more than in Great Britain, and the cost of the management of our Post-Office Department less than theirs by two and a half millions of dollars!

"Hence we come to these conclusions, that if we have as cheap postage-say two cents-the population of our country, which is about twenty millions, will write as many letters as the people of Great Britain, if not more, and that we will have in a short period not less than two hundred millions of letters per annum passing through our Post-Office. This will yield a revenue of four millions of dollars. Then, if Congress pays the PostOffice, as it should, the postage on franked matter, this, together with a reduced rate of postage on newspapers and periodicals, will be amply sufficient to meet all the expenses of the Post-Office Department, and to afford greater postal facilities to the people."

A CARD.

The undersigned, Agent of the Washington National Monument Society, for the city and county of Philadel phia, has the honour to announce to his fellow-citizens, that, in the performance of the duty assigned him, he proposes soon to call on them, either personally or by his authorized agents, that all may enjoy the grateful privilege of contributing, according to their means and dispo sition, to this magnificent work, the enduring emblem of a nation's gratitude.

The friends of Constitutional Liberty will assuredly rejoice in this opportunity to inscribe their names on the tablets to be preserved in the monument, that after ages may know how universal was the veneration of the Ame rican people for the illustrious founder of their National Independence. JOHN C. MONTGOMERY.

Philadelphia, April 10, 1850.

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