whether I have deceived others or myself: and I think it no very unreasonable request, that men would please to suspend their judgments till then. I was once of the opinion with those, who despise all predictions from the stars, till the year 1686, a man of quality showed me, written in his album[1], that the most learned astronomer, captain Halley, assured him, he would never believe any thing of the stars influence, if there were not a great revolution in England in the year 1688. Since that time I began to have other thoughts, and after eighteen years diligent study and application, I think I have no reason to repent of my pains. I shall detain the reader no longer, than to let him know, that the account I design to give of next year's events, shall take in the principal affairs that happen in Europe; and if I be denied the liberty of offering it to my own country, I shall appeal to the learned world, by publishing it in Latin, and giving order to have it printed in Holland.
- ↑ Album, is the name of a paper book, in which it was usual for a man's friends to write down a sentence with their names, to keep them in his remembrance; it is still common in some of the foreign universities.
