ADVERTISEMENT. 



has ever appeared. The modesty of its author forbids 

 a personal acknowledgment which the editors would 

 have the highest satisfaction in making. 



Still they are sensible that numerous errors and 

 inaccuracies are to be found in the body of the work. 

 Scarce a month passes in which we do not hear of some 

 important political change among the nations of Europe. 

 Ancient kingdoms are annihilated or curtailed to insigni- 

 ficance ; new ones are formed, or those which were for- 

 merly small are extended to powerful empires. In Ame- 

 rica the daily presses can scarcely keep pace with the 

 daily improvements of the country. Our information 

 respecting the countries of Asia and Africa is still in- 

 volved in considerable obscurity. The unfounded jea- 

 lousies of some nations, and the absolute ignorance of 

 others, prevent our receiving any knowledge, except 

 from the transeient and unsatisfactory observations of 

 travellers ; who, far from being assisted by the natives, 

 in their inquiries, are frequently purposely misinformed. 

 The editors are however persuaded, that the public will 

 do them the justiee to allow these volumes to contain a 

 considerable proportion of new, important, and valuable 

 information. 



JUNE, 1815. 



