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dual, at least by a majority so great, as to leave a minority of very little importance in point of numbers; so it is of the greatest moment, to the reception or rejection of this proposition, whichever it may meet with, at the hands of this community, that the art of printing, has arrived at such perfection, that the price, at which a copy of this work will be afforded, will not be, beyond the means of any man who feels an interest in the subject which it discusses. That every man in the State, from the highest to the lowest, has such an interest, and that of the greatest magnitude,will be evident enough, in the further progress of the work.
It would, however, be of little use,—that books were afforded at a moderate price, if readers were few in number. Happily, with us, such is not the fact. While, in France, which has the best instructed population on the continent of Europe, there are, as we are told, seventeen millions out of thirty, who are unable to read; in the State of New-York, as well as most of our sister-States, scarcely one-twentieth, I believe, are incapable of reading, with a full understanding of what they read. Whoever, therefore, comes before an American community, with a printed proposition, presented in clear and plain language, built on and supported by, principles, which to such community shall appear to be adapted to give them their rights, when full investigation shall have
