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abate, his fpirits may gradually regain their wonted tone, and his publication perhaps affume a little more of that energy it ought to poffefs. At any rate, he will fubmit with a becoming deference to the public decifion in this cafe. And, after thanking his numerous and respectable fubfcribers for the countenance they have given him, he will only add, that it shall be his invariable study to discharge those obligations he has come under to them, and to the public, with the utmoft fidelity in his power: indeed he could not give a ftronger proof of his determined refolution to do so, than by publishing, while in the state of depreffion of mind he feels himself, thefe present sheets :-for nothing but a pofitive engagement could have induced him to do fo: but a positive engagement to him is always an irrevocable deed; which nothing but an abfolute impoffibility can annul. Kind reader, farewell.

PROSPECTUS.

THE editor of this work has frequently had occafion to remark, in the courfe of reading, that numerous facts, and important obfervations, have been published many years, without having ever come to the knowledge of thofe claffes of men who are engaged in the active purfuits of business, though it is, for the most part, by fuch men only, that practical improvements can be applied to useful purposes in life. From this cause it happens, that the discoveries made by literary men, too often ferve rather to amule the fpeculative than to awaken the ingenuity of men of business, or to ftimulate the industry of the operative part of the community, who have no opportunity of ever hearing of the numerous volumes in which thefe fcattered facts are recorded.

He has likewise observed, that among those who are engaged in arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, there are many individuals of great ingenuity and confpicuous talents, who, from experience and obfervation, have made important discoveries in their respective employments; but that these men being at prefent in a great measure excluded from the circle of literary intelligence, have neither an opportunity, nor any inducement to communicate their discoveries to others. Thus is useful knowledge confined to a few individuals only, at whose death it is irrecoverably loft, inftead of being univerfally diffused, as it of right ought to be, among all men, at least of their own profeffion; and the progrefs of the nation towards perfection in useful attainments is much retarded.

He has also often remarked, with extreme regret, that clergymen *, and others in remote parts of the country, whofe minds in their early youth have been delighted with the charms of scientific pursuits, must in the prefent ftate of things, unless they be poffeffed of affluence, reluctantly forego the pleasures that refult from a familiar intercourse with the republic of letters, and fuffer themselves to fink into a fort of men, tal annihilation. To fuch men the poet may be fuppofed aptly to allude in these beautiful lines:

"Full many a gem of pureft ray ferene

"The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;
"And many a rofe is born to blush unseen,
"And wafte its sweetness on the defert air."
GRAY.

Alike unknown indeed, and useless to the world, are the mental trea fures which thus are buried in obfcurity, as the inanimate objects here defcribed; but not alike are the effects of neglect on the animate and the inanimate objects themfelves. The gem lofes none of its valuable qualities, though it should remain for ages hid in the bosom of the dark abyfs; the bursting rose bud alfo, covered with the dews of heaven, unfolds its opening charms with equal beauty in the tanThis obfervation chiefly applies to clergymen in Scotland.

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gled glade, and diffufes its balmy fragrance with the fame profufion in the lonely defert, as in the polished garden, where it ministers to the delight of admiring princes. Not fo the man. His foul, formed with a relish for the fuperior enjoyments of fociety, if fuffered to pine in neglected obfcurity, lofes its vivifying principle: its ardent bril liancy fades; and it is foon deprived of all those valuable qualities which might render it either agreeable or beneficial to mankind. Whatever, therefore, fhall have a tendency to remove this evil, and to open a ready intercourfe between these valuable characters and congenial minds, will confer a very important bleffing on mankind.

Such was the general train of reasoning that fuggested the idea of the prefent work: Nor does the editor fcruple to own, that the pleasure he has felt in anticipating the happiness he may thus eventually be the means of procuring to many deferving perfons who are now loft in obfcurity, and in contemplating the benefits that will probably refult to the community at large from the revivification of fo much genius, which now lies dormant and useless, have tended greatly to incite him to attempt the prefent arduous undertaking; and have influenced him in adopting the particular form of this work, the mode of its publication, and the price at which it is offered to the public, as being better adapted than any other he could think of, for removing the inconveniences pointed out, and for diffusing knowledge very univerfally among those claffes of men who are at prefent excluded from the literary circle. Its form is fuch as will easily admit of its being kept clean and entire till it can be bound up for prefervation: The time that will intervene between the publication of each number will be fo fhort, as not to allow the fubjects treated in one to be loft fight of before another appears: anfwers to queries may be quickly obtained; and contefted difcuffions will thus acquire an interest and a vivacity that cannot be felt in publications that are longer delayed: Nor will thofe even in the bufieft scenes of life find any difficulty in glancing over the whole at leifure hours; and the price is fo exceedingly moderate as to bring it within the reach of even the moft economical members of the community. Thus, he hopes that this performance will become an interefting recreation and an useful inftructor to the man of business, and an agreeable amusement during a vacant hour to those of higher rank.

Nor does the editor confine his views to Britain alone. The world at large he confiders as the proper theatre for literary improvements, and the whole human race, as constituting but one great fociety, whose general advancement in knowledge muft tend to augment the profperity of all its parts. He wishes, therefore, to break down thofe little diftinctions which accident has produced to set nations at variance, and which ignorance has laid hold of to disunite and to render hoftile to each other fuch a large proportion of the human race. Commerce hath naturally paved the way to an attempt, which literature alone could not perhaps have hoped to achieve. British traders are now to be found in all nations on the globe; and the English language begins to be studied as highly useful in every country. By means of the univerfal intercourfe which that trade occafions, and the general utility of this language, he

hopes to be able to establish a mutual interchange of knowledge, and to effect a friendly literary intercourfe among all nations; by which man fhall come gradually to know, to esteem, to aid, and to benefit his fellow creatures wherever he finds them. The human heart is nearly the fame at all times; and it is perhaps alike fufceptible of piety, beneficence and generofity among all people, if errors that too often pervert the understanding were eradicated. The proper business of philofophy is to eradicate those errors which estrange mankind from each other, and to extend the sphere of beneficence among men wider and wider ftill, till it fhall comprehend every individual of the human race. Should the editor of this work be enabled to establish the foundation of this fyftem of universal civilization, he would reckon himself fingularly fortunate indeed, and think that he had accomplished one of the most glorious achievements that can fall to the lot of man to perform. Animated with this hope, his exertions have been great; and he trufts they will not in future be unworthy of the object he has in view. He is happy in being able to say, that he has been more fortunate in forming connections with men of eminence in the literary world than he had any reason to expect; and were he here to mention the names of thofe who are to honour him with their correfpondence, it is hard to fay whether it would most expose him to be cenfured as vain, or bring his veracity in queftion. Suffice it therefore at present only to fay, that there is scarcely a civilized nation on the globe in which he has not a reasonable affurance of having fomenofidential correfpondents, on whofe knowledge and zeal in the caufe or fcience he can fully rely. It is indeed to that ardour for knowledge among them that he is folely indebted for the favourable countenance he has obtained. Into all nations, therefore, where the English language is in any way known, this work will probably find its way; and of course it may be expected that the ufeful difcoveries, or literary effays of ingenious men, will have a better chance of being generally read, and the writers of them made known among men of letters, if inferted in it, than perhaps in any other publication. To give this work, therefore, the full value of which it is fufceptible, the editor warmly folicits communications from ingenious men of all nations. Brevity and originality in feientific difquifitions, utility with respect to arts, accuracy and the moft fcrupulous fidelity in regard to exs periments, nature and truth in the delineation of real life, and elegance in polite literature and the belles lettres, are what he chiefly wishes to obtain. Though utility shall ever be his chief aim, he is well aware, that to be able to accomplish this aim, it is neceffary that the work fhould be as agreeable as poffible. Dry and intricate details, therefore, it fhall be his ftudy to avoid. To polish the manners and to humanize the heart, he believes to be the firft fteps required in an attempt to infpire a tafte for literary excellence, and to excite exertions for attaining the highest perfection in arts. This he hopes to be able to effect, by a careful felection of elegant differtations, characteristical anecdotes, entertaining tales, and lively fallies of wit and humour, that fhall be naturally calculated to awaken the attention of youth, and to

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