
1800. ] 
England would, upon occafion, to fuit 
the temper and prevailing tafe of their au- 
‘dience, depart from doétrines they had 
formerly advanced, and change their prin- 
ciples with the change of times. 
Public affertions of this nature, when 
they fall in with the difpofitions of the ig- 
norant and the prejudiced, are pregnant 
with confequences the moft mifchievous to 
fociety; and the trueft interefts of Chrif- 
tianity. Ifhall not pretend, Mr. Editor, 
to defend the character of every member, 
or of every minifter, of the eftablithed 
church at all times ; but I firmly: believe, 
and am well aflured, the condu& of the 
feveral members and minifters that com- 
pofe the eftablifhment, is, aggregately con- 
fidered, as irreproachable as that of any 
fe&t whatever. And I would afk this ve- 
ry liberal and charitable gentleman, when 
he made the aflertion, where was the f{pirit 
of Chriftianity, that breathes nothing but 
concord, charity, and peace to al maz- 
Rind ! I am your’s 
Ravenftonedale, Feb. J. RoBinson. 
erie 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
PRESUME it mult have given plea- 
iL fure to every friend of uletul fcience, 
to have feen in your Magazine for Septem- 
ber, page 677, a man {o eminent as Dr. 
BEDDOES, come forth and urge the fre- 
quent complaint of the defective know- 
ledge of arithmetic, and diftafte for the 
whole of mathematical fcience,which young 
men bring with them from our claffical 
fchools. If gentlemen of talents and 
{cience would join their efforts in pointing 
out the importance of thefe ftudies, and 
exemplify them to be what they really are, 
the fources of all human knowledge, and 
that they ftrongly bias even young minds 
towards a habit of correét reafoning, jut 
thinking, of drawing proper inferences, 
and making wife determinations, we fhauld » 
in all probability foon fee mathematical 
knowledze more diffufed and held in greater 
admiration. Such laudable efforts would 
have a ftrong tendency to induce parents 
and guardians, and even youth themfelves, 
to prefer thefe manly endowments of the 
mind to thofe fuperficial and enervating 
-accomplifhments fo prevalent in this age, 
znd which are more calculated to quality 
the tons of the fuperior orders of fociety to 
be- me fops and fidlers, than the wife le- 
~ giflar>s of a free people. 
I have read the French treatife upon 
“arithmetic alluded tc by Dr, Beddoes, in 
Coxdorcet’s Explanation of fractions, 
103 
which we find that the capacious mind of 
the great Condercet has condefcended to 
make the firft elements of the {cience of 
calculation eafy and familiar, even to ins 
fant minds; and if his attempt be defec- 
tive, let it be remembered, “© that it was 
written by him in that afylum where he 
concealed himfelf from his executioners ; 
it was from thence he fent it fheet by fheet 
to his wife, and that the laf was {carcely 
finithed when he was obliged to go and 
feck another afylum, an afylum beyond 
the reach of wicked and furious perfecu- 
tors—the grave!” 
In order to give a {pecimen of the maz- 
wer of this celebrated philofopher’s ex~ 
plaining the elements of numbers, I have 
tranflated a {mall portion of the treatife in 
queltion. After having explained the na 
ture of the four firft rules in arithmetic, he 
leads his pupil almoft imperceptibly into 
the knowledge of fractions by illuftrating 
the value of thofe remainders which fre- 
quently arife after the procefs of diwifioz. 
‘© When you divided,” fays Condorcet 
to his pupil, “* 1634 integers equally a- 
mong 38 perfons, you found that each per- 
fon had 204 of them, and that there re~ 
mained 2. Suppofe thele 2 integers to be 
fuch things as may be divided into feveral 
parts, and that you have divided one of 
thofe things into 8, you may then give one 
of thefe parts to each of thefe perfons ; and 
then after having divided the other re- 
maining integer in the fame manner, you 
may give another of thofe parts to each 
perfon ; then each perfon will have two of 
thofe parts of which eight make an integer, 
or one entire thing, or fro cighths of fuch 
thing. Therefore you mult give to each 
perion 204 and two eighths, which are 
written thus 2, fo that each perion will 
have in all 2044-2. 
If one entire thing bedivided into a cer- 
tain number of equal parts in fuch a man- 
ner that the fum of all thefe parts be the 
thing itfelf, one of fuch parts is expreffed 
by adding ¢/ to the name of the number of 
parts into which the thing is fuppofed to be 
divided ; if it be fuppoled to be divided 
into 100 parts, each part is called an hun- 
dredth ; if it be divided into 238 parts, 
each partis called a two hundred thirty- 
eighth. Sothele expreffions two eighths, 2, 
fhew that two things have been divided into 
eight parts, and that two of thefe parts are 
meant to be taken. For this reafon tez- 
eighths 4.2. fhew that ten whole or entire 
things have been divided into eight parts, 
and that ten of thefe parts are meant to be 
taken ; but 8 of thele form one entire 
O 2 . thing 5 


