Présentation de l'éditeur
Fhs plan and outliiMS of the ibiknriiig work were aketehedi and a eaoflidenbie portion of it oonqposed, about eighteen years ago. Jt was advertised, as preparing ror the press, in 1885, when the author published the first edition ofT he Christian Philosopher; but various other engagements prevented its appearance at that period. The Introduction and the first two sections were published in a respectable quarter journal in the year 1816; but tiey are now considerably modified and enlarged. This circumstance will account for the date of some of the illustrative facts to which reference is made in the first part of the volume, and in several portions of thie A ppendix. Uad tlie present work been published at any of the periods now referred to, the subject it discusses, and some of the illustrations, would have presented a more novel aspect than they can lay claim to at the present time, when the diflK nion of knowledge has become an object of neral attention. The author, however, is not aware that any work embracing so full an Illustration of the ame tojncs has yet made its appearance; and is, therefore, diiqxM ed to indulge the hope, that, in conjunction with the present movements of society, it may, in somA degree, tend to stimulate those exertions which are now makng for the melioration and mental improvement of mankind. Independently of the general beanng of the fiicts and illustrations on the several topics they are intended to elucidate, the author trusts that not a few fragments of useful luiowledfle will be fbund incorporated in the following pages calculated to entertain and instruct the gen reader. In the numerous illustrations brought forward in this volume, it was fbund mipossible altogether to avoid a recurrence to certain facts which the author had partialhy adverted to in some of lus former publications, without interrupting tne train of thought,
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.
