TO THE
A D E R.
(S£MWS^@> HE Iatc ;n S ei " 0US Mr. Chambers, in the Preface to his celebrated Univer-fal Di&knary of Arts and Sciences, juffly obferved, that « f ucn a work, well executed, « would anfwer all the good purpofes of a library, and contribute more to the propa- " gating of ufeful knowledge, than half ths books extant;" and he had the pleafure of feeing his judgment confirmed, and his labours approved, by the avidity with which that performance was bought up by all ranks of people, both at home and abroad.
That the Cyclopedia was every where fo kindly received, is hot indeed furprizin°- { for what other book could pretend to be fo extenfively ufeful and agreeable as that in which the man of learn- ing, of fcience, of curiofity, of bufinefs, of pleafure, of art, down to the loweft mechanic, might ex- peel: to find each his particular account ? There the fcholar hath a ready repertory, and he whom cir- eumftance or inclination will not permit to read many books, may there find abftrafts of the heft, fuited to his dccafions.
Some few however condemn the ufe of all fuch dictionaries, on the flight pretence, that, by leflening the difficulties of attaining knowledge, they abate our diligence in the purfuit of it ; and by dazzling our eyes with fuperficial fliew, feduce us from digging folid riches in the mine itfelf. To fuch we need only anfwer, that they have not fufficiently confidered the diftinction between hiftorieal and fcientifical knowlege. Tho' the latter, as Mr. Chambers has obferved, cannot be delivered, and fo ought not to be expeded, in the order of a Dictionary, yet the former may. And it feems obvious, that an hifto- rical knowlege of the Arts and Sciences may be of great ufe j not only to thofe who have no leifure for deeper researches, but' to thofe alfo, who intending a farther progrefs, confider hiftorical as the befc preparation for fcientifical knowlege. Not to mention the vaft ufe of refrefhing the memory occa- fionally, and thereby preferving ideas and notions already gairi'd.
Others again ailedge againft the utility of all works of this kind, that they are every one imperfed ; none of them being free from numerous defefts and errors, befides other faults, by means of which he that trufts to them for information, is in danger of being either difappointed or milled. But whatever truth there may be in this objection, there is as little reafon in it as in the former; fince every human performance is equally liable to it. Perfection is not attainable by man : his beft work therefore is that which has the feweft faults. So far in general muft be allowed.
With refpect. to the Cyclopedia in particular, whatever faults of any kind it may be juftly charged with, yet every man of candour, who will allow himfelf to reflect, a moment on the extenfive, various, complicated nature of the work, will rather wonder that the author committed no more, than cenfure him for thofe that efcaped him.
No body, however, can be more fenfible of thofe faults than he himfelf was, as fufficiently appears in his Preface ; nor more earneftly defirous of reforming them, than he (hewed himfelf to be by labour- ing with indefatigable, inceflant pains, to the very laft, in collecting and difpofing proper materials for that purpofe : So that, if he had lived to complete his defign, he would undoubtedly have produced the mod fatisfactory proofs both of his zeal and his capacity to ferve mankind in the important and difficult province which he had undertaken.
But his death having put an end to this fcheme, the benefit of his labours would have been entirely loft, had not George Lewis Scott, Efq; F. R. S. a Gentleman of acknowledged learning, and of abilities every way equal to fuch an undertaking, (fince appointed Sub-Preceptor to Their Royal HighnefTes the Prince of Wales, and Prince Edward) been prevailed upon to perufe the papers left by Mr. Chambers, in order to feleft fuch articles as were fit for the prefs, and to fupply fuch others, as feemed to be moft wanting.
To the execution of this latter part of the defign, feveral late excellent authors, whom Mr. Cham- bers could not have the opportunity of confulting, have contributed largely. By their help confidera- ble additions have been made to the work, particularly with regard to natural hiftory. However, that this ufeful branch of learning might be treated in the moft accurate manner, as indeed it deferves, a Gentleman who has diftinguifhed himfelf advantageoufly therein, was engaged to compofe the articles relating to it. The fame hand alfo drew many articles in anatomy, furgery, chemiftry, mineralogy, agriculture, medicine, and other analogous fubjects.
That
