18 INTRODUCTION. 



the others ; and of which a right understanding is essential, both to 

 our present and future happiness. Hence the origin of Theology; 

 in whose sublime inquiries, the light of nature is aided by the light 

 of Revelation, shining on the straight and narrow path to life eternal. 

 Beyond this light, and up to the higher orders of being, darkness still 

 surrounds us ; and probably it will continue, until this mortal shall put 

 on immortality, and this dawn give place to perfect day. 



The principles involved in these intellectual sciences, find their ap- 

 plication, as well as their illustration, in the study of mankind at 

 large, nations and individuals. This study naturally commences 

 with Geography, or a description of the earth and its inhabitants : 

 tracing their locations ; manners and customs ; resources and improve- 

 ments ; as derived from statistical records, and the accounts of Voy- 

 agers and Travellers. From Geography we naturally proceed to 

 History : whose voluminous records display the varied fate of nations, 

 during the lapse of time ; unfolding the causes of their rise and advance- 

 ment, or of their decline and destruction : thus proving that pure 

 religion and virtue are the only safeguards of a state; while wealth, 

 producing luxury, is a temptation to invasions from abroad and dissen- 

 sions within. 



The study of nations is greatly elucidated, by tracing the career of 

 those remarkable individuals, who have guided the current of public 

 events, or opened new fountains of knowledge ; and thereby stamped 

 their character upon their own times, or exerted an influence upon 

 succeeding ages. Thus, Biography supplies those details which are 

 beyond the limits of History ; and each aids the other in exhibiting a 

 full picture of human nature, both in its darker and its brighter aspects. 

 This picture may also be seen by reflected light, in the pages of 

 Poetry and Romance : which represent human character and actions 

 according to the ideas of the poet and the novelist : often imbodying 

 the shadowy forms of fancy, as well as the sober realities of truth ; 

 while showing, as in a mirror, the views which they have entertained 

 of life, in all its vicissitudes. Their writings possess various degrees 

 of merit ; but a selection from the best of them can by no means be 

 omitted, in completing the cycle of human knowledge. 



Thus, passing from the material to the intellectual world, we have 

 glanced hastily over the most prominent of those subjects, for the 

 arrangement and examination of which, the present work was under- 

 taken. If this survey has been too brief, to give an adequate idea of 

 the object in view, it should be remembered that the greatest objects 

 appear small, when seen in distant perspective. Could a volume be 

 substituted for every page of the present work, it would still be in- 

 sufficient to contain the sum total of human knowledge ; the most 

 important points of which may yet be comprehended in a single tome ; 

 as the widest landscape may be seen through a single pane of glass. 



