ere he then resided. This lady
assured me that the book was of great value, containing
noble and sublime truths; and the only condition she
attached to the gift was, that I should read it carefully
and endeavor to understand its meaning. This I willingly
promised and faithfully performed; and all who have "climbed
the heights," and escaped from the thraldom of superstitious
faith, will concede the inestimable value of such a gift--
rich with the peace and consolation that the truth imparts.
--Pub.

If books were to be judged of by their volume, the following would have
but little value; if appraised by their contents, it will perhaps be
reckoned among the most instructive.

In general, nothing is more important than a good elementary book; but,
also, nothing is more difficult to compose and even to read: and why?
Because, as every thing in it should be analysis and definition, all
should be expressed with truth and precision. If truth and precision are
wanting, the object has not been attained; if they exist, its very force
renders it abstract.

The first of these defects has been hitherto evident in all books of
morality. We find in them only a chaos of incoherent maxims, precepts
without causes, and actions without a motive. The pedants of the human
race have treated it like a little child: they have prescribed to it
good behavior by frightening it with spirits and hobgoblins. Now that
the growth of the human race is rapid, it is time to speak reason to it;
it is time to prove to men that the springs of their improvement are to
be found in their very organization, in the interest of their passions,
and in all that composes their existence. It is time to demonstrate that
morality is a physical and geometrical science, subject to the rules
and calculations of the other mathematical sciences: and such is the
advantage of the system expounded in this book, that the basis of
morality being laid in it on the very nature of things, it is both
constant and immutable; whereas, in all other theological systems,
morality being built upon arbritary opinions, not demonstrable and often
absurd, it changes, decays, expires with them, and leaves men in an
absolute depravation. It is true that because our system is founded
on facts and not on reveries, it will with much greater difficulty
be extended and adopted: but it will derive strength from this very
struggle, and sooner or later