Letters Concerning the English Nation
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aft / LETTERS C0NCER1>JING THE ENG LISH NAT ION. B Y Mr. D E VOLTAIRE. ^m^ ^f LONDON, Printed for C. Davis in Pater-Nojler-Row, and A. I. yon in Rujfd- Street^ Covent-Gardcn. MDCC XXXIII. THE PREFACE THE prefent Work appears with Confidence in the Kingdom that gave Birth to it: and will be well fatisfied with its Fortune, if it meets with as favourable a Reception as has been indulg'd to all the other Compofitions of its Author. The high Efteem which Mr. de Foltatre has always difcover'd for the Eyig- lijh'i is a Proof how ambitious he is of their Approbation. Tis now grown familiar to him, but then he is not tir'd with it ,• and indeed A z one ; 7}je Preface. one wou'd be apt to think that this Circumftance is pleafing to the Nation, from the ftrong De- iire they have to perufe whatever is pubHfh'd under his Name. Without pretending therefore to any great Penetration, we may venture to afllire him that his Let- ters will meet with all the Succefs that cou'd be wufh'd. Mr. de J/ol- taire is the Author of them, they were written in Londorj^ and relate particularly to the EngHJh Nation three Circumftances which muft neceffarily recommend them. The great Freedom with which Mr. de Folta'ire delivers himfelf in his va- rious Obfervations, cannot give him any Apprehenfions of their being lefs favourably receiv'd upon that Account, by a judicious Peo- ple v/ho abhor Flattery. The En^ ItPo are pleas'd to have their Faults pointed out to them, becaufe this {hews The Preface. fliews at the fame Time, that the Writer is able to diftinguilTi thtir Merit. We muft however confefs, that thefe Letters were not defign'd for the Public. They are the Refult of the Author's Complacency and Friend fhip for Mr. Thtr'iot^ who had defir'd him, during his Stay in England^ to favour him with fuch Remarks as he might make on the Manners and Cuftoms of the Br'ittfh Nation. 'Tis well known that in a Correfpondcnce of this kind, the moft juft and re- gular Writer does not propofc to obferve any Method. Mr. de Vfd- tatre in all Probability follow'd no other Rule in the Choice of his Subjeds than his particular Tafte, or perhaps the Queries of his Friend. Be this as it will, 't\\'as thought that the moft natural Or- der in which they cou'd be plac'd, would A 3 The Pre f a c e . would be that of their refpedive Dates. Several Particulars which are mentionVi in them make it ne- ceflary for us to obferve, that they were written between the latter End of 1728, and about 173 1. The only Thing that can be re- gretted on this Occafion is, that fq agreeable a Correfpondence fhould have continued no longer. The Reader will no doubt ob- ferve, that the Circumftances in eve- ry Letter which had not an imme- d iate relation to the Title of it, have been omitted. This was done on purpofe ; for Letters written with the Confidence and Simplicity of perfonal Friendfiiip, generally in- clude certain Things which are not proper for the Prefs. The Public indeed thereby often lofe a great many agreeable Particulars ; but why fhould they complain, if the want of them is cpmpenfated by a thoufand . 7%e P R E F A C E thoufand Beauties of another kind ? The Variety of the Subjeds, the Graces of the Didion, the SoHdity of the Reflexions, the delicate Turn of the Criticifm; in fine, the noble Fire, which enlivens all the Compofitions of Mr. de Vol- taire^ delight the Reader perpetual- ly. Even the moft ferious Letters, fuch as thofe which relate to Sir Ifaac Newton s Philofophy, will be found entertaining. The Au- thor has infus'd into his Sub- je<5t all the delicate Touches it was fufceptible of; deep and abftrufe enough to fhew that he was Mafter of it, and always perfpicuous enough to be under- ftood. Some of his Engli/h Readers may perhaps be diffatisfied at his not expatiating farther on their ^onftitution and their Laws, which A 4 moft The Pre f a€ e. moft trf" them revere almoft to Ido- latry 5 but this Refervednefs is an Effed of Mr. de Voltaire % Judg- ment. He contented himfelf with giving his Opinion of them in ge- neral Reflexions, the Caft of which is entirely new, and which prove that he had made this Part of the Britifh Polity his particular Study. Befides, how was it poffi- ble for a Foreigner to pierce thro* their Politicks, that gloomy Laby-^ rinth, in which fuch of the Eng-^ I'tJJo themfelves as are bed acquain- ted with it, confefs daily that they are bewildefd and loft ? While this Work was in the Prefsj there came to London a Manufcript Letter of Mr. de Fol^ tatre^ in anfwer to the Gomplaints made by the Citizens of Ham- burgh againft a Paflage in the Hi- ftory of Charles the Twelfth, re^ lating The Preface. lating to the Burning of Altena. We thought proper to infert that Letter here, for the Ufe of thofe who have the Hiftory of Charles the Twelfth in Englijh only. THE THE CONTENTS. LETTER I. Oji the Quakers. Page i LETTER 11. On the Quakers. p. n LETTER III. the On Quakers. p. j5 LETTER IV. On the Quakers. ^ p^ 24. LETTER V. *fhe Contents. LETTER V, On the Church of England, p. 34 LETTER VL P« //^^Prefbyterians. p. 41 LETTER VIL Qn the Socinians, or Arians, or Ami- trinitarians. p. 46 LETTER VIII. On the Parliament. P- 5 ^ LETTER IX. On the Government. • P* 59 LETTER X. On "trade. p. ^9 LETTER XI. The Contents, LETTER XL On Inoculation, p. 73 LETTER XIL On the Lord Bacon. p. 83 LETTER XIIL On Mr. Locke, p. 94 LETTER XIV. On Des Cartes and Sir Ifaac Newton. p. 109 LETTER XV. * On AttraEiion. p. 122 LETTER XVI. On Sir Ifaac NewtonV Opticks, p. 142 LETTER The Contents. LETTER XVII. On Infinites in Geometry^ and Sir liaac NewtonV Chronology, P» ^5' LETTER XVIIL On 'Tragedy, p. 1 66 LETTER XIX. On Comedy, p. i8i LETTER XX. On fuch of the Nobility as cultivate the Belles Lettres. p. 192 ,r LETTER XXL On the Earl of Rochefler and ilfr. Waller. p. 197 LETTER 1 The Content S4 LETTER XXIL On Mr, Pope , and fome other famous Poets, p. 2 1 LETTER XXIIL On the Regard that ought to be Jhown to Men of Letters, p. 223 LETTER XXIV. On the Royal Society and other Acade- mies, P«232 A Letter concerning the Burning of Al- tena, as related in the Hijlory of Chdrles XII. p. 247 BOOKS BOOKS Printed for C. Davis and A. Lyon. I. 'T^HE Hi&ory o( Ckarles Xll, King of Sive- X defj. By Mr. De Voltaire. Tranflated from the French. With his Effigies engraved by Mr. Fertile. II. Hiftorical and Critical Remarks on the Hifto- ry of Charles XII. Defign'd as a Supplement to that Work. In a Letter to Mr. Voltaire, by Mr. De la Motraye. III. Henriade, an Epick Poem in ten Cantos, by Mr. De Voltaire. Tranflated into EngU/Ij Verfe. IV. Rofalinda, a Novel ; intermix'd with a Va- riety of the moft afFeding Scenes, both of Diftrefs and Happinefs. Tranflated from the Fre?uh. V. Philofophical Converfations ; or a compieat Syftem of Natural Philolbphy, by way of Dialogue, with ?9 Copper Plates. Written in French by Fa- ther Regnault, of the Society of Jefus. Tranflated into Englijh^ iliuftrated with Notes by Tho. Dale-, M. D. 3 Vol. %vo. N. B. The Defign of this Author is, like that of Mr. Fontenelle in his Plurality of Worlds, to ren- der Natural Philofophy no lefs plain to the meaneft Reader, than entertaining to the brighteft ; at the fame Time his Reafoning is founded upon fuch Ex- periments as have employ'd the Speculation of the greateft Philofophers in different Countries that this laft Age has produced, particularly upon thofe in the German Ephemerides, the French Journals, and the Royal Academy of Sciences. VI. Baxter^s Glojjarium Antiquitatum BritanuicC' rum isf Romanarum, z Vol. VII. A Trearile of the Small Pox, in two Parts, by Theophilus Lob!', M. D. and F. R. S. I VJII. Haf Books printedfor C. Davis and A. Lyon. VIII. Hufbandry and Trade improved, in feve- ral Letters, communicated by feveral eminent Mem- bers of the Royal Society to the Colledor John Houghton, F. R. S. 4 Vol. IX. Spe^ade de la Nature: Or Nature difplay'd. Being Difcourfes on fuch Particulars of natural Hi- ftory as were thought mod proper to excite the Cu- riofity, and form the Minds of Youth. Illuftrated with Copper Plates. TranJlated from the French. N. B. The Author has herein explain'd, with great Wit and Beauty, the mod curious Particu- lars in Nature relating to Terreftrial Animals, Birds, Infeds, Fiftes and Plants. If I might be allow'd to judge of the Succefs of this Book, from the Pleafure which the Reading of it gave me, I fhould pronounce it very great. 'Twas at my Requell, and in Compliance with my moft earnefl: Sollicita- tion, that the Author undertook this Work, ^c. Vide Mr. RoIIins's Preface to his Hiftory of the Egyp- tians, Carthaginians, ^c. Vol. IV. X. L'Henriade, Poeme Heroique en x Cantos, par M.