Mir. Ray 
lb as to render his Book a Collec^lion of Difcourfes or 
X)iffertations upon a vafi; Variety of Subje£ls extremely 
agreeable to a few, and abfolutely ufelefs to all the 
reft of the World. 
I would not be underftood to cenfure thefe Writers 
in a didatorial Manner, or to prejudice my Readers 
againft them ; each and all of thefe Books may be ufe- 
ful, inftrudive and entertaining *, but they are not fit 
for a Colledion, becaufe, if we take one we muft take 
all, in order to render the View complete ; and this 
would fwell our Work not only beyond its due, but 
beyond all Limits *, and, after all, anfwer the Purpofe 
but indifferently : Befides, in moft of thefe modern 
Books of Travels, you will find continual References 
to the Authors that we have ufed, becaufe fuch Writers 
are themfelves fatisfied, that they cannot give better 
or mOre exad Deferiptions *, and this being the Cafe 
with refped to thofe Things that the Generality of 
Readers defire moft to be acquainted with, it follows 
for this very Reafon, fuch Travels ought to be pre- 
ferred in a Defign of this Nature, and the Treatifes of 
modern Travellers left to the Perufal of fuch as, from 
their having a like Tafte to this or that Writer, incline 
not only to read but to ftudy his Performance. 
In regard to the principal and general Ends of vi- 
fiting Foreign Countries, in order to take a View of 
the moft remarkable Places in them, to examine their 
Situation, Excellencies and Defeats, the Nature of the 
adjacent Territories, and their Produce ; to obferve the 
Governments, Number of People, Revenues, the Con- 
dition, Inclinations and Manners of the Inhabitants, 
and to take Notice of the Particulars for which they 
chiefly diftinguifli themfelves from other Nations ; 
thefe, as they are the profefs’d Intentions of the Au- 
thors we have inferred ; fo it muft be allowed, that 
they have executed them with great Diligence, Fide, 
lity and Spirit. Wherever their different Circum- 
ftances, different Qualities and different Manner of 
Travelling, may be fuppofed to have given them an 
Opportunity of making different Obfervations or Re- 
marks upon different Places, we have been careful to 
fupply the Reader with their feveral Works j fo that 
all their Difeoveries are united in this Body of Tra- 
vels, with as little Repetition as it is pofllble. 
As for Inftance, Mijfon^ Burnet., and Ray^ all tra- 
velled through Switzerland ; and yet their Accounts are 
very different from each other : The firft confined 
himfelf chiefly to the Road, and deferibes only the 
Places through which, in their ordinary Rout to Italy, 
moft Travellers muft vifit. The Second having greater 
Leifure, and a Mind of another Turn, is lefs felici- 
tous about Places, and more concerned about Perfons j 
fo that from him we receive as clear and diftindl In- 
formations, as to the Tempers and Manners, their No- 
tions in Religion and Politicks, as if we had paffed as 
much Time as he did among the Swifs. The Third 
differs from them both, fpeaks of Places and Per- 
fons too, and takes in befides Abundance of Points, 
that from their Attention to their particular Views had 
efcaped the other two ; fo that this may be juftly rec- 
koned a Kind of Supplement to the other Travels j 
and, by comparing all three, the Defeription may be 
render’d compleat. 
Again, As to Loretta, and the holy Houfe there, it 
is mentioned by each of our Travellers, and yet there 
is little or nothing of Repetition in their Accounts ; 
but there is one Thing very fingular in Mr, that 
inftead of entering into a long Detail of all that he 
faw and heard there, and from thence '^remarking up- 
on and pointing out all the Abfurdities and Incon- 
fiftencies of that extravagant Fable, he contents him- 
felf with tranferibing, which neither of the other two 
had done, the authentick Account of honeft Father 
Codrington in plain Englijh \ which furnifhes us with 
fuch a Hiftory of Things, as renders Reflections and Re- 
marks entirely needlefs. His Travels through Naples, 
Sicily and Malta, are in refpeft to thofe who have gone 
before, abfolutely new, and carry us to the very Fron- 
tiers of Europe on that Side ; and with refped to the 
laft mentioned Ifland, I very much doubt, whether 
'’s travels Book IT. 
there is a better Defeription extant in any Languao-e. 
It muft be, indeed, acknowledged, that he runs fome- 
times into very long Digreflions upon Points of natu- 
ral Hiftory •, and the Reafon that I did not lopp off 
thefe Digreffions was, their being of general Ufe, and 
ferving to illuftrate the fame Points, where-ever they 
occur ; fo that confidered in this Light, they are very 
ufeful as well as very entertaining. ^ 
It was the Defign of Mr. Ray and his Company to 
have taken a View of all the Provinces of Irance that 
lay in their Way to return Home, and to have ex- 
amined them with the fame Diligence and Accuracy as 
they had already pradifed in their Travels through- 
Italy: But this, Scheme of theirs was defeated by the 
Difference that happen’d between the two Crowns, the 
French having thought fit, in the firft Dutch War in 
King Charles the Second’s Reign, to declare for that 
Republiek againft Great Britain ; anti, in Confequence 
of that Declaration, order’d all the Subje(fts of the 
Britijh Crown to quit the Territories of France within a 
certain Time. This obliged Mr. Ray and his Com- 
pany to alter their Intention and Manner of Travel- 
ing ; fo that inftead of looking into and enquiring af- 
ter every Thing, they were Conftrained to make their 
Journey in the common Way, and to confine their 
Acquaintance entirely to the publick Houfes where 
they lodged, and the People to whom they applied 
for Bills of Exchange, and other neceffary Purpofes, 
excepting fome few Places, of which Mr. Ray has left 
us fome Account, and Mr. Skippon a larger, which 
fhall follow in the next Chapter. 
It may not be amifs to take Notice here, that Mr. 
Skippon kept alfo a diftindl Journal of his Travels thro^ 
the Low Countries, Germany and Italy ; but as moft of the 
Particulars in them, is different from what we meet 
with in Mr. Ray, are either honorary or monumental In- 
feriptions or Accounts of Engines and Machines, we 
were unwilling to interfperfe them with Mr. Ray's Ob- 
fervations, becaufe they would not only have lengthen’d 
this Sedion beyond due Bounds, but alfo have afforded 
the Reader very little that is new, fince they are al- 
ready included in another Collection. But it is now 
Time to finifh thefe Remarks, in order to open the 
next Chapter, which relates to the two great Kingdoms 
of France and Spain. 
But before we come to this, we fhall take the Li- 
berty of fuggefting, that if modern Travellers through 
the Low Countries would examine the new Manufactures 
that fince thefe Gentlemen vifited them are introduced 
there, and are exported from thence not only into 
Germany and the North, but alfo into the feveral King- 
doms of Europe and the Plantations in America, de- 
pendant upon them, it would be a prodigious Service 
to this Country. In Germany alfo there are many En- 
quiries to be made, that would be highly ufeful and 
in their Confequences very beneficial in refpeeft to 
Mines more efpecially, fince we are well affured, that 
as moft of the Difeoveries, in relation to the Working 
them to Advantage, have hitherto been brought from 
thence, by the Care of the Crawley Family, and others 
interefted in Iron Works here ; fo there are ftill fe- 
veral Methods prafUfed there, Vv^hich arc not yet 
known, or at leaft not generally known to our People. 
In Italy alfo there are many Things relating to the 
the Silk Manufadure that deferve to be enquired into, 
and we may very well guefs at the Importance of fuch 
Enquiries, by the Reward given to Sir Fhomas Lomhe 
for bringing over that celebrated Invention, which has 
been fo fuccefsfully, executed in the Machine eredted 
at Derby. But exclufive of the Manufadtures, it would 
be of great Confequence to the Publick, if any Me- 
thod could be found to open new Markets for Raw 
Silk ; the obtaining which, in the Channel whereby it 
now comes, ftands the Nation in vaft Sums ; of 
which, whatever could be faved, would be fo much 
clear Gains, and confequently the general Balance of 
our Trade w’ould be much more in our Favour. 
The Trade of Naples and Sicily alfo is very capable 
of being extended and improved, fince it is certain, 
that the French draw very confiderable Sums from thofe 
Kingdoms 
