

PREFACE. 



THE present work is offered, as a guide book, to those who are 

 seeking to explore the vast expanse of human knowledge. It aspires 

 to be to Pantology, or knowledge in general, what a map of the world 

 is to Geography : an outline, and nothing more : but such an out- 

 line as may be serviceable to all who are seeking to acquire general 

 views of this wide region ; by showing, however imperfectly, the 

 relations of its parts, and their comparative extent and importance. 

 And as the emigrant, who proposes to settle in a new country, first 

 travels over it, and examines its different regions, before selecting a 

 location ; so, it is believed, may the student, before choosing a pro- 

 fession, derive benefit from a general survey of all the regions 

 of knowledge, such as is here attempted to be presented. Or, as the 

 traveller, in pursuit of health and pleasure, does not rest satisfied with 

 his native state, rich and fruitful though it be ; so may the philosopher 

 derive strength and relaxation from an occasional excursion beyond 

 his own immediate pursuits, or a systematic tour around the whole 

 intellectual world. 



The primary object of the following pages, was to present a 

 Natural Classification of human knowledge, so full as to furnish 

 a place for every topic of thought, and so simple that it might be of 

 general and practical application. It would thus include what Sir 

 James Mackintosh so appropriately terms an "Exhaustive Analy- 

 sis' 1 of Human Knowledge ; in which all the fragments, even of minor 

 importance, would find a distinct and proper place. It would 

 also serve as a Mnemonical System, to aid in impressing and 

 retaining ideas ; as an Index Rerum, or method of arranging topics 

 of study; and as a Model for Libraries, by bringing those books 

 which relate to the same subjects, into juxtaposition, whether in the 

 catalogues, or on the shelves. Such a classification, it is futher con- 

 ceived, would be the best of all arrangements for Encyclopedias : 

 the whole advantage of their usual form, being still preserved, by 

 means of a copious alphabetical index ; while they would exhibit the 

 information which they contain, in a connected and systematic 

 manner. 



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