PREFACE. Ir prefaces are in any measure regulated by the magnitude of the works to which they are prefixed, the present must be a very short one. In submitting these productions to the notice of the public, the Author hopes that the indulgence which is generally shown to the first attempts of a writer, will not be withholden from his: the lines which he has adopted as a motto express the ruling passion of his mind, and whatever may be the merits of his little volume as a literary performance, he hopes it will at least bear testimony of his desire to promote the love of virtue, philanthropy, and patriotism. For several years the writer has not been without a hope, that at some period of his life, he might be able to produce a work useful to |