liber

[From Lat. liber =a book, because the fibrous layers of which liber is composed can at times bo separated into laminte like the leaves of a book or an ancient manuscript roll.] Bot.: The innermost of the four layers constituting the bark of a plant. According to Gray, it consists of three kinds of cells, bast cells or fibers, large or more elongated cells, and cells of parenchyma. Called also Bast-layer and Endophiœum. liber-cells, liber-fibers, s . pl . Bot .: Very long prosenchymatous cells occurring in liber. Liber fibers of various plants are of use for textile purposes. The shorter liber-cells pa into wood-cells, between which and liber-cells the difference is but slight. lib-er-al, *lib'-er-all, a . & s. [French libéral , from Lat. liberal is , from liber =free; from the same root as libet or lubet =it pleases; Sp. & Port. liberal ; Ital. liberale .] A. As adjective: I. Ordinary Language: 1. Becoming or befitting one weil-born; refined, gentlemanlike; free from meanne . 2. Such as a gentleman ought to be; accomplished, refined. "The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy." Shakesp.: Henry VI., Pt. 11., iv. 7. chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; with tacit reference to an irresistible movement toward democracy which has long been in progre in Britain, as it was in the ancient Roman republic. The Conservatives, dreading the effect of this democratic current on the time-honored institutions of the country, make it their main object to conserve them. With this view they arrest forward movement when they can, and, when this is impracticable, attempt to retard the rate of progre . The Liberal party, on the contrary, little or nothing fearing the results of change, help the movement instead of attempting to stem or to le en its progre . The Liberal party in English politics consists of two great sections or wings, generally in cooperation though sometimes in antagonism. These are the Whigs and the Radicals, the former seeking to remove the more obnoxious defects in the institutions of the country, with the view of insuring their stability: the latter, on the contrary, desiring to root some of them up instead of increasing their efficiency. For example, the Whigs are in favor of the Established Churches, the House of Lords, and the throne, while the more advanced of the Radi cals would abolish all the three. The strength of the Whig party is in the middle cla es, that of the Radicals among the artisans. Obvious compounds: Liberal - hearted , liberal minded, liberal- souled, liberal - education, .