iv
Preface of the Tranſlator
of all ranks of people in every part of Europe. It is now about eighteen months ſince the firſt publication; in which time it hath paſſed no leſſ than ſix editions in the original language; the third of which was printed within ſix months after its firſt appearance. It hath been tranſlated into French; that tranſlation hath alſo been ſeveral times reprinted, and perhaps no book, on any ſubject, was ever received with more avidity, more generally read, or more univerſally applauded.
The author is the Marquis Beccaria, of Milan. Upon conſidering the nature of the religion and government under which he lives, the reaſons for concealing his name are obvious; the whole was read, at
