MarchZS, 1175. 



* 1 HAD finished the additions \vbich I 

 designed to make to the System of Natural 

 Philosophy, before I saw Dr. Goldsmith's 

 "History of the Earth and Animated Na- 

 ture." I had not read over the first volume 

 of this, when I almost repented of having 

 wrote any thing on the head. It seemed 

 to me, that had he published this but a 

 few years sooner, my design would have 

 been quite superseded, since the subject 

 had fallen into the hands of one who had 

 both greater abilities and more leisure for 

 the work. It cannot be denied that he is 

 a fine writer. He was a person of strong 

 judgment, of a lively imagination, and a 

 master of language, both of the beauty 

 and strength of the English tongue. 



2. Yet I could not altogether approve of 

 this, that it seemed the design of the an- 



