gentleman, who sat up with him during the night, to his bed-side, and addressed him in these words :

"Young man, attend to the advice of one who has possessed a certain degree of fame in the world, and who will shortly appear before his Maker. Read the Bible every day of your life.'

No writer of the last century evinced more brilliant genius, extensive learning, or profound research, than Sir William Jones. The scientific world is indebted to him for more light than was ever before thrown upon Oriental Literature, Law, &c. English jurisprudence likewise owes to his pen one of the most able and elegant Treatises of which it can boast to this day. We allude to his Essay on the Law of Bailment If any man ever possessed the deep spirit of investigation, which the law requires of all who who would thoroughly understand it, he was that man. The testimony of such a man to the value of any book is conclusive : And his testimony was found in his own hand-writing, at the end of his Bible, as follows:

"I have regularly and attentively perused the Holy Scriptures; and am of opinion, that this volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strians of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have been written. unrestrained application of them to events, which took place long after the publication, is a solid ground for belief, that they are genuine productions and consequently inspired."

The

To these illustrious names might be added, those of Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Boyle, Mr. West, Lord George Lyttleton, Milton and others, all of them great in intellect, and distinguished for moral worth; and all of them LAYMEN too, who could have had no other end in view, in their commendations of the Bible, but truth and the true happiness of mankind. Tell me, that these men were the dupes of Priestcraft! That these men were de luded, blinded, and led by the nose! No-they were neither priest-ridden nor party-ridden; neither deceived nor interested: But they had explored the depths of human science: And after all, had found the divine science of the heart, which the sacred Volume alone unfolds, superior to all human science; and as such they embraced it, and rested upon it their hopes of eternal happiness: And though I am not a stickler for authority; yet I cheerfully submit the question-Whether it does not require of every modest Inan, however great, a series of long, laborious and profound investigation, before he ventures to dispute the conclusions of such men as I have named, and especially on such a subject! And whether, if he do so on slight grounds, he does not run the risk of committing an awful error?

NOTE T.

[As this Note was not promised in our Prospectus, and is not very material, and as we have already exceeded the number of pages prescribed, it is omitted.]

TO MY READERS.

I feel that I owe an Apology, especially to those of my Readers who have patronised this work in anticipation, for the delay which has occurred in its publication: And that Apology, I trust, is to be found in the fact that I had not only to write the book; but for a reason, which does not concern the public, have been under the necessity of procuring a list of subscribers, sufficient in number and responsibility to ensure the printer and book-binder remuneration for their stock and labor. This has been a task, of which no one can form an adequate idea, without undertaking it in person as I have done: For in almost nine cases out of ten, gentlemen had vowed, never again to subscribe for any book, owing to repeated impositions. But regardless of rash vows, and all other obstacles, I have persevered, sometimes against hope itself, till my exertions, by the blessing of God, have been crowned with success, so far at least as to get the work before the public, with whom it must be left to make its own way hereafter. And now, next to "the giver of every good and perfect gift," I have to express my unfeigned thanks and gratitude to the Ladies and Gentlemen who have liberally patronised this small literary concern; which, though it will not make a very conspicuous figure in the Republic of Letters, may, I hope, be the means of drawing the attention of the people to an important subject, in which they are all deeply interested. To two gentlemen, whose piety and patriotism are unquestionable, and whose pecuniary aid was essential to my success, I owe a particular expression of my thanks; and I should mention their names in this place, did I not believe, that it is their disposition "to do good by stealth, and blush to call it fame."

Having thus sincerely expressed my gratitude to patrons and benefactors, I have a few words more to say on another subject.

Whatever my readers, you may think of this work, I have, for certain reasons, to crave your justice on one point; and that is, whatever may have been, or may be, insinuated to the contrary, I have not written it as a political partizan. I can affirm, with perfect truth, that to any sensation like a party feeling, my heart has long been not merely chilled, but entirely dead. I am perfectly satisfied, by long experience, that "party spirit is the madness of many for the gain of a few." And whenever, or wherever, I see or hear the movements and the war cries of party strife, they "pass by me like the idle wind." My eyes are shut to them-my ears are deaf to them-my mind and my heart are closed against them.

For this state of feeling, on my part, I could give a volume of reasons-a larger volume than this-with as much ease and facility as I can discuss a cup of coffee or a cranberry tart: But I shall content myself at present with stating briefly, that I have seen so many of the gross inconsistencies, intrigues, and corruptions, of party; I have so often witnessed the hollow-hearted and hypocritical pretensions of party demagogues: I have heard them so often, both in public assemblies and private circles, profess one thing, and seen them at the same time, without a blush, or a moment's hesitation, do another: I have seen the honest multitude so often deluded and betrayed by their false professions and left-handed wisdom: I have so repeatedly, and almost continually for the last forty years, seen and heard these things in all the parties, and in all the factions that have risen among us; and have beheld so many deplorable effects of all this moral and political turpitude and tergiversation, on the character and conduct of this people, that so far from cherishing any longer the least spark of party feeling, I have more than once been ready to exclaim with Cowper :

O for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless continuity of shade,
Where rumor of oppression and deceit,
Can never come!"

Let no one suppose, however, that because I sincerely deprecate party spirit, I have adopted, or ever shall adopt, that most selfish and reprehensible of alí principles, called non-committal-a principle equally repugnant to the feelings of a gentleman, a republican or a Christian: And especially the last: For in relation to any specific proposition, or measure, in which the happiness and prosperity of his country, or of mankind, is at stake, the true Christian can never hesitate to give his opinion frankly, freely and fully, whenever properly called upon to give it. It is not, then, the suppression of honest feeling, or the concealment of candid opinion, that I would inculcate; but the sacrifice of prejudice and selfishness, and the submersion of a contracted party spirit, in the nobler and more diffusive spirit of patriotism. He is but half a citizen, at

best, who views the concerns of his country as a partizan, and not as a patriot; and rejoices in the petty triumphs of one portion of his countrymen over another, forgetting that his allegiance and his services are due to the whole body politic. The spoils of victory, the honors and emoluments of office, are the objects for which he contends; and not the liberty, prosperity and glory of his country. This has been the case for ages with the Whigs and Tories of Great Britain. The people of that country are but just beginning to open their eyes to this deceptive, selfish and corrupt character of those parties. They are just beginning to learn the melancholy fact, that whichever party has triumphed, they have uniformly been deceived and fleeced; and in proof of this position, I could produce a volume of evidence. In this country, though we are yet in the cradle of national existence, the same game has been too often and too successfully played.

It is, indeed, my solemn conviction, that the people of this country have been more or less deceived and betrayed by every party which has ever gained the ascendancy among us: Not that there have not been some great, and perhaps many good men in these parties, and especially in the too common acceptation of the terms great and good; but because, with all their talents, and their good intentions, they have generally been thwarted by the selfish views and machinations of unprincipled intriguers. A great and a good man at the head of a party or a nation, may be compared to the Sun, who-(I use the personal pronoun on account of the dignity of the object)-although he sheds light and life in general, often finds that all his efforts to come forth in full splendor, are frustrated by the dark clouds and heavy mists that surround him. The difference, however, between the Sun and a great and good statesman, lies here-that whilst the former is sometimes in the dilemma just mentioned, the latter is almost continually in it: He can scarcely ever rise without being involved in the clouds and mists of party strife: He can rarely, if ever, move a single step forward without finding his way obstructed by the dark and turbid streams, or the foul morasses and quagmires of duplicity, intrigue, selfishness and venality. Washington, Jay, Hamilton-Jefferson, Madison and the two Clintons-all of whom aimed to be honest statesmen, and not demagogues-often found themselves thus obstructed; and that, too, when their views were the clearest, the purest, and the wisest, both as to the means proposed and the ends to be attained: And thus will it ever be, till universal education shall enable the people to baffle the arts of intrigue and deception; or universal faith and piety, as Christians, shall exalt their leaders above the weakness or the wickedness of stooping to such arts: And when that time shall arrive (and gloomy as the prospect is, there are not wanting deep students in the mysteries, the word and the ways of the Almighty, who believe in its approach)—there will be far more honor in being one of the people, than there now is in being chief among the rulers.

If, therefore, there be a sentence in this volume, that may seem to have a party complexion, or bearing, politically speaking, I disclaim unequivocally any such inference. If, indeed, there be a phrase to be found, importing love of country and of mankind, which has not been perverted and polluted by the unhallowed breath of selfishness and faction, I would gladly seize it, on this occasion, to express the real motive by which I have been actuated in this work. I confess, however, I can find no such phrase at present, nor do I believe there is one to be found. I am, therefore, under the necessity of adopting seriously and sincerely, language, which has often flowed from the pen and the tongue of duplicity, when I assert, that it is for the good of the country -the whole country-and the country alone-that I have written this book: For if the cold, headless, heartless, profligate, corrupt, and all-corrupting system of Infidelity universally triumph, no matter what political parties or factions may arise, the country-the whole country is hurled into one common vortex of destruction: It will fall, to rise no more, till the last dread Trump shall rouse its members to come forth before the Eternal Judgment Seat, to receive the awful sentence: "DEPART FROM ME, YE CURSED, INTO EVERLASTING FIRE, PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS!" Mat. xxv. 41. SHERLOCK.

Errata.-Page xxi, (Dedication,) 3d line from the top, for "Lovely spot," read lonely spot, &c. Page 151, 14th line, for "as founded," read "is founded," &c. Page 180, 20th line, for man read men, &c. There are several other typographical errors; but these are the only ones affecting the sense of the text, or which the reader will not readily perceive. The note to the editors of the Albany Daily Advertiser, page 165, was inadvertently inserted.