iv DEDICATION. 



those great inventions whicli have mainly contributed 

 to its present commercial wealth and importance. 



What Samuel Hartlib attempted for the advance- 

 ment of Society in a religious and moral point of view, 

 in the seventeenth century, by the establishment of 

 suitable institutions, you, in another department of 

 social progress, have carried to a successful issue at 

 this present time ; and it is therefore my sincere hope 

 that your valuable life will be long spared to enable 

 you to complete, if not to perfect, the scheme you have 

 so ably commenced for the furtherance of national im- 

 provement in those arts that largely conduce to peace, 

 plenty, and civilization. Believe me. 



Dear Sir, 



Your very sincere friend, 



HENRY DIRCKS. 



Blackheath, Kent, 

 January, 1865. 



