Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Encyclopædia

ENCYCLOPÆDIA, or Cyclopaedia, signifies the circle, or chain, which connects the different arts and sciences.

In the present work, we have preferably adopted the term "Encyclopædia," for reasons which the philological reader will easily discover. But upon the motive which have induced us to combine this word with the epithet "Domestic," we cannot in this place expatiate; as such an account will appear with more propriety in a future preface.

Many attempts have been made by writers, to reduce the whole circle of the arts and sciences to a systematic order, and exhibit a connected view of them, by representing what has emphatically been called "The Tree of Knowledge;" but we confess our disappointment on such occasions, as we never have met with a satisfactory arrangement. Nor can it be expected that we should succeed in this arduous attempt, so long as there is no accurate and established meaning attached to the very words, which it would be indispensably necessary to adopt, in order to distinguish the physical from the metaphysical sciences. The latter, indeed, are, at this uncritical period, in a manner exiled from the studies of the inquisitive; though they appear to be so closely cemented to the human mind, that they will constantly intrude on our attention, engage the faculties of speculation, and absorb the powers of reflection, even when in a manner proscribed.—Conceiving, therefore, that it would be a fruitless innovation to introduce any new terms in the present state of philosophical nomenclature, we shall content ourselves with simply enumerating the heads of the different branches of the arts and sciences.

I. Divinity; comprehending Church History, Criticism, and Exegesis; Polemical and Dogmatical Essays; Theological Morality; Sermons and Homilics; Catechetical works; Liturgy and books on Devotion; Translations and Editions of the Bible.

II. Jurisprudence or Law: which may be divided into English, Scotch, and peculiar private Law; into Ecclesiastical, Political, and Criminal Law; theoretical and practical Jurisprudence; its literary History, &c.

III. Medicine; comprising Anatomy; Physiology; Pathology; Symptomatology, or the doctrine of Diagnostics; Therapeutics; Surgery; Midwifery; Pharmacy; the Veterinary Art; Medical Police and Jurisprudence; domestic or popular Medicine, &c.

IV. Philosophy: viz. Logic and Metaphysics, or Speculative Philosophy; Psychology, or the practical study of the human mind; Ethics or Moral Philosophy; Theory of Education; Law of Nature; and Political Economy.

V. Mathematics; comprizing Arithmetic; Geometry; Astronomy; Architecture; Fortification; and pure Mechanics.

VI. Natural History;; including Meteorology; Geology; Hydrology; Mineralogy; Botany; and Zoology.

VII. Universal History; namely, Geography; Statistics; Diplomatic Transactions; Heraldry; Chronology; Genealogy; Numismatology, or the knowledge of Medals and Coins; Antiquities; Mythology; Archaeology; Biography, and Topography.

VIII. Belles Lettres, or Polite Literature.—See vol. i. p. 246.

IX. Philology: Grammars, Dictionaries, Editions and Translations of Greek and Roman Classics, as well as of Modern Languages, such as the French, Italian, Spanish, German, &c.—Study of the English language, which ought to precede all other pursuits; as, without a thorough knowledge of the native tongue (of which very few of our modern scholars can boast), it is impossible to make great progress in foreign languages, or to become intimate with any complicated art or science.

X. Economical Sciences, including all the Mechanical Arts and Manufactures; as well as Trade, Commerce, and Navigation; but principally Agriculture and Gardening; the Arts of rearing Cattle, cultivating Trees, and managing Bees; Hunting; Fishing; Cooking, &c.

XI. Physics; namely, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, &c.

XII. Miscellaneous Literature; for instance, Encyclopædias; scientific works on a variety of subjects; treatises on Freemasonry; Literary Quarrels; books with obscure titles; critical journals, monthly magazines, and newspapers.