as become essentially meaningless. An enlarged edition of Webster's dictionary was issued in 1840; it has appeared in several later revisions. Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961; revised 1981) and an abridgement, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, are the latest of these revisions. In the 1830s, around the age of 70, Webster wrote a number of reflective essays, which were inspired by what he saw as the political mayhem brought by Andrew Jackson's ascension to the Presidency. His ideas of the Revolution and politics modified over the years, giving him motivation for his writing. Ancient Rome gave Webster many of his ideas about politicians including disapproval of extravagance, self-indulgence and corruption. Webster argued that man was a political being by nature, rising up in society by merit, not by birth. His greatest moral fulfillment came by taking part in a self-governing republic. People attained freedom when they were virtuous and willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community, which included serving in public office without pay. In Websters eyes, a politician should be independent, own his own land and not be directly involved in the marketplace. Otherwise, he might enter politics to intensify his own rewardnot for the established impartial reason of serving his country. An upright man relinquished private aspirations and interests for the good of the people. Moreover, Webster argued that only land-holding men over the age of 45 could be unbiased enough to have the franchise. George Washington was the consummate example of the disinterested politician in Noah Websters mind because he retired after his great military victories in the war without making political gains out of his achievements, seeing his role as President as a sacrifice for the common good. Most people are unaware that todays dictionaries emulate the practice of "description" as opposed to "prescript...
