yet made its appearance; and is therefore disposed to indulge the hope, that, in conjunction with the present movements of society, it may, in some degree, tend to stimulate those exertions which are now making for the melioration and mental improvement of mankind. Independently of the general bearing of the facts and illustrations on the several topics they are intended to elucidate, the author trusts, that not a few fragments of useful knowledge will be found incorporated in the following pages, calculated to entertain and instruct the general reader.
In the numerous illustrations brought forward in this volume, it was found impossible altogether to avoid a recurrence to certain facts which the author had partially adverted to in some of his former publications, without interrupting the train of thought, and rendering his illustrations partial and incomplete. But where the same facts are introduced, they are generally brought forward to elucidate a different topic. Any statements or descriptions of this kind, however, which may have the appearance of repetition, could all be comprised within the compass of three or four pages.
The general subject of the present work will be prosecuted in another volume, to be entitled "The Mental Illumination of Mankind; or an Inquiry into the Means by which a general Diffusion of Knowledge may be promoted." This work will embrace, -along with a great variety of other topics, an examination of the present system of education, showing its futility and inefficiency, and illustrating