[ xxvii } 



diftjntlly than any other circumftance. Thefc notions are neceflariljr 

 fleeting and evanefcent. They have not been diftinftly delineated in for- 

 mer times ; and hence the hiflory of manners in pafl ages is incomplete, 

 and the judgment we now form of the importance of many tranfa 'ions, 

 is altogether erroneous. Many beautiful and interefting allufions too, in 

 works of literature and tafte, are totally incomprehenfible for war.t of it. 

 Any hints, therefore, refpeifiing this department, whether in ancient or 

 modern times, will be very accejitahle ; and when they are faithfully de- 

 lineated and accurately defined, they will be received with a particular 

 degree of fatisfaftion. 



It Is by no means the Intention of the editor to profofe that any of his corre- 

 fpondentt Jhouli think of gi'oing a fries of anfiuers to alt thofe queries. This 

 •would be a labour he never could once dream of fubjeSiing them to ; nor could it, 

 if completed, flit a mifcellany of the nature intended. Ail that is -wifhed for, or 

 exfecied^ is merely that thofe ivho fhall be fo obliging as to favour him -with 

 their occafionat correfponden^e^ iiitl be fo iind as mark doivn upon paper, at 

 they incidentally occur to their mind, fich ohfervations and circumflances refpeSi- 

 ing any of the particulars above, or others, that fhall tend to improve the condi- 

 tion of men in civil fociety, or to illujlrate the hijlory of the human mind, ac- 

 companied zuith fich refiellions at the circurrflances fhall fuggefl. By this means 

 detached fails, and eafy unconne^ed effays coming from different bands, •will have 

 a -jariety in the manner, as •well as a diverfity in the thoughts on the fame fub- 

 jecl, that -jiould prove more inflruHi-oe and more entertaining to the reader, and 

 •would fugged a greater <variety of neiv ideas, than any great ivori uninterrupt' 

 edty carried on by one individual ei>er could do. 



As the intention of this mifcrllany is to convey vfeful intelligence from Bri- 

 tain to other countries, as •zrell as to obtain it from thence, care ivill be taken in 

 the courfe of this -work to furnifb information that ma^ be relied on, refpeHing 

 mofl of the above particulars, in Britain itflf; fo as that its prefent fate fhall 

 be gradually unfolded in a •ycrv particular manner. This the editor can pro- 

 mife •with fame degree of certainly, from the kno-wledge he has of the talents and 

 difpofitiom of thnf friends and correfpondents •who are to afjijl him in this ivork : 

 y'or can the ttuihenticity of the information be doubted, becaufe, •where any mif- 

 take or error fhould happen, it -would inevitably be correded by fome future ob- 

 fewer into ivhife band this ivork ■will fall. 



He ivijbes, hoitei'er, it may be univerfulty underjtood, that it is not bis defire 

 that the communications of his foreign correfpondents Jhould be circumfcribed to 

 the fubjeffs above hinted at. It could not be his intention to limit the excurftons 

 of genius and tafle to fucb narro'w bounds. He tvifhes thefe to be left to range 

 at large through the •wide bounds of nature. Here he pretends not to lead. The 

 greater freedom that is alloived in literary difjufitions, the more he tuill be pleaf- 

 ed : •whatever be the fubjeil, if the difiijjions can be comprifed -within a moderate 

 compafs, and do not give rife to endlefs and unfatisfailory dfputcs, they ivill be 

 received n'ith fatisfailion ; and no pains Jball befpared to prefent them in the mofl 

 advantageous manner to the public. 



To prevent as much as poffible all ambiguity, and to guard a^ainfl mifiakes 

 it it reiuejkd that thofe tvhe fhall oet^iunally fa-umr him ivitb their corrc 



