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PRE F ACE.As there are different kinds of history, 80 are there various species oftravels. The most important of the former are certainly those whichrecite the public actions of nations, cilies, and kingdoms; since they"naturally attract .. and fix the attention of political readers, and, bysqpplyiQg them with the knowledge of past events, afford the best instructionsfQr theregulation and proper conduct of human life, without,either the trouble or danger of experience. And it will readily beallowed, that the most profitable and usefui of the latter are of thatclass whichcontain trueand correct statements of a moral, political,geograpllical, agricultural, commercial, and geological nature, togetherwitha justaecount of the institutions and customs in different climatesand countries, which chiefly influence the manners and conduct of theirinliabitants, aswêll as sorne of the measures of their governments.ln severalinstànees of literary compilation,where much is submittedto he read, .or rather, âs BOille will calI it, to be toiled througb, it isfound, that ina fewpagesthe 'author eould tell us aU"he has to say: formoral matter is perbaps condensible in the ratJo of its duetility. Thuswe see in history a faet diffused through successive sheets, which in thecolumn of achronicle occupiesbut a fewlines. 'rhesubject matter, ornarrative, or series of events, or chain of cÎrcumstances, to constitute