PROSPECTUS. 



1 HE editor of this work has frequently had occafion t» rcnjark, inthjj 

 courfe of reading, that numerous faiils, and important oblLTvation.s, 

 ]uve been putlilhed many yeans, without having ever con\e to the 

 knowledge sf thofe clalTes of men who are engaged in the active pur- 

 i'uits of bufincfs, though it is, for the moil part, by fuch men only, 

 that pracftical improvements can be applied to ufeful purpofcs in life. 

 From this caufc it happens, that the difcoveries made by literary mjen, 

 too often ferve rather to amufe the fpeculaiive than to awaken the in- 

 genuity of men of bufinels,or to ftimulate the induftry of the operativft 

 jjart of the community, who have no opportunity of ever hearing of 

 the numerous volumes iu which thefe Icattcred faiSls are recorded. 



He has likewife obferved, that among thofe who are engaged in arts, 

 ^riculture, manufaAurcs, and commerce, tliere are many individuals of 

 great ingenuity and confpicuous talents, who, from experience and ob- 

 lervation, have made imj)ortant difcoveries in their refpedlive employ- 

 ments ; but that thefe men being at prefent in a great meafure ex- 

 cluded from the circle of literary intelligence, have neither an oppor- 

 tunity, nor any inducement to communicate their difcoveries to others. 

 Thus is ufeful knowledge confined to a few individuals only, at whole 

 death it is irrecoverably loft, inftead of being univerfally diifufed, as 

 it of right ought to be, among all men, at leaft of their own pro- 

 felTion; and the progrel's of tiie nation towards perfedlion in ufeful at- 

 tainments is mucli retarded. 



He has alfo often remarked, with extreme regret, that clergymen *, 

 and others in remote parts of the country, whufe minds in their early 

 youth have been delighted with the charms of fcientific purfiiits, muft in 

 the prel'cnt ftatc of things, unlefs they be pofl'efied of affluence, ro- 

 ludantly forego the pkafures that refult from a familiar intercourfe witk 

 the republic of letters, and fufier themfelves to fmk into a fort of men- 

 tal annihilation. To fuch men the poet may be fuppofed aptly t» 

 allude in thefe beautiful lines : 



" Full many a gem of pureR ray ferene 



" The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear; 



" And many a rofe is born to blufh unfeen, 

 " An4 wafte its fweetnels on the defert air." 



Grat. 



Alike unknown indeed, and ufelefs to the world, are the pttatat trea- 

 fures which thus are buried in obfcurity, as the inanimate objefl* 

 here defcribed ; but not alike are the effefla of ncgledt on the an/. 

 mate and the inanimate objeifts themfelves. The gent lofes none of its 

 -valuable qualities, though it fliould remain for ages hid in the bofora 

 of the dark abyfs ; the burfting rofe bud alfo, covered with the dow* 

 »f heaven, unfolds its opening charnis with equal beauty in the twi- 

 • This obl«rvation«lUeay applies to clergymen in Scotland. 



