LINN IE AN INTRODUCTION. i 3 



in the porch of Nature's temple; for the holy myfteries are not indifcrimi- 

 nately revealed to all her votaries; they are concealed in the facred recedes of 

 the cell, or interior chamber, where truth lies veiled, and is only to be attained 

 by patient perfeverance. " If temperate youth, mindful of his Creator, would 

 " follow thefe refearches, if thefe noble views were inculcated by the aged 

 " and liftened to by the young in years, fcarce even then fliould we reach the 

 " depth where truth lies buried, which we now, with carelefs ftudy, fearch 

 " for on the furface *." — " It is certainly of great importance to penetrate 

 " into the hidden recedes of Nature, and, not remaining contented with out- 

 " ward appearances, to dive into the facred myfteries of the divine opera- 

 " tionst" 



Influenced by thefe confiderations, and eager to clear the way for difcover- 

 ing her fecret operations, I have dared to enter the almoft impenetrable foreft 

 of Nature, not difmayed by the thorny brakes with which it is environed : 

 Thefe I have carefuliy avoided, fo far as was practicable or proper ; though I 

 have learned by experience, that no degree of circumfpedtion can preferve 

 even the greateft diligence from error and miftake. I have therefore fubmit- 

 ted with patience to the feoffs of the ignorant and the malicious, who have 

 either contemned the objects, or envied the fuccefs, of my laborious purfuits ; 

 defpifing tbofe grinning apes and chattering baboons whom I have encounter- 

 ed in my journev, with perfevering and laborious patience I have followed the 

 road which fortune and the limits of my abilities have pointed out : And, 

 though far from meeting with that fuccefs which the greatnefs of the fubject 

 deferves, and my attachment to the fcience of Nature has caufed me eagerly to 

 defire, I yet have reafon, with the Pfalmift, devoutly to exclaim, 



LORD! 



Honv great are thy "works !' 



A brutijh man knovueth them not, 



Neither doth the fool underjland them, 



LIST 



* Preface to the Muf. Worm. p. v.. 

 f Seneca. 



