INTRODUCTION. 3 



the astronomer sees liothing in this period but tlie 

 completion of a certain number ot planetary re- 

 volutions, and the commencement of another se- 

 ries, the man of true wisdom is employed in at- 

 tending to other objects, and in pursuing different 

 inquiries. — Rich were the stores of instruction, 

 and great the improvement, which an ancient king 

 received from returning, after a long course of_ ac- 

 tion, and looking ujwn all the zcorks ivhicli his hands 

 had zcj'ought, and the labour ivhich he had laboured 

 to do. It was upon this calm retracing of his 

 i^teps, that he discovered, more fully than ever be- 

 fore, wherein he had been profitably employed; 

 and in what respects his unwearied exertions had 

 been but vanity and ^vexation of spirit. 



Standing, therefore, as we do, upon the threshold 

 of a NEw^ CENTURY, it may prove both amusing 

 and instructive to take a hasty retrospect of that 

 lo which we have just bidden adieu. In this re- 

 trospect, the scene which lies before us is large 

 and various. On w^hatever part we cast the eye, 

 important objects, and interesting lessons, present 

 themselves to view. Out of these it will only be 

 possible to select a few of the most conspicuous 

 and striking, and to display each with the utmost 

 brevity. 



He who attempts to take a view, even the m.ost 

 superficial, of human nature, and of human affairs, 

 within any given period, will soon find that the 

 object which he undertakes to survey, is complex 

 and multiform. Man, always variable, and never 

 consistent, imparts this character to every thing 

 •that he touches. To give the history of a single 

 mind for a single day; to mark with justice its 

 revolutions, its progress, its acquirements, and its 

 retrocessions; to form an estimate of the good, or 

 of the evil, which, within this time, it may have 

 ■produced; and to trace, in accurate lines, whcreiE 



