The Sun.
London, England, 1817-12-24 00:00:00

CERTIFICATES, JAN. 13.

. . .•
J. Welchthan, Bradford, Wiltshire, linen-draper—T.. Rat-
`craft., Clini'rti-sireet; Bethtial-green, elieesemonger—W.
Warne. Beth-Ord-street, Corent-garden, boot and shnewalher
—W. Orcrion, Birmingham, plater—C. W. Swales, Somer-
sset-s!reet, Portman-square, dress-maker--,1. Spence, Bishop-
"Wea-rniouth, Durham, 4ealer—C. Beerenbrock, Oxford-
.streetonerchant—J: Smart, Kingsgate-street, ironmonger.
PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED.

S. Hilton and 3. KaY,' Choi-ley, Latrcashire, colton'snin-
neri-0.. Ly.lford and H. Moon, Frome,•Soint rsetgliire, linen
draper —'l•. Blakey and It. Dickinson, Fleet-street,
a'nd .1. '1 . Calthron, Boston, Lincolnshire, corn.
niereinints•—•l. Senior,• W. COw'ke, and'.l:l\tanstiii. Wakf•rnhl,
blanket manufacturers—N. 'Clayton and .1. Holine, Buffing-
ton, Cheshire, stone..tnagoits-4. ltidrr, W• El. Wcod,
and
.1.. Lillie Britain, printers—U. Proi.scr and .1. 1,,,d.
rdclgei,• New-syttare;. Minories; ship insfirance
Stdrehonse and T. Satchel!, Sunderland near the Sea, Due-
liatai, mercers—L. Bale% and 11. Per;utt, James-street,
(.It..idenscitiar'e,.dressinakers. •

110 P INTELT.RENCE.
!SoUTI-IWART4., DEC. 2.2 —We,h,ave a very trifling.
demand Hps at present,. awl as..the holidays
are so near at hand We do not expect any trade for
i. I ttvo or three weeks to come.

Aturt

ENCAtT.OP.E.DIA zt ETROPOLITANA.

(See Pro.,pccrp.s, p0.1;3110-11 1:11111IT, Paternost:r-row,
Advert4.syricut i,t Front Page.)

We mean to devote tile preseUt article to the
notice “f a vvotk Af,7l.ich as yet is only in agitation,
but which, if executed carespondently with its
professed yiews and intentions, will tortn one of
the most important additions to literature that has
been made in modern 'times.—;-Ever 'sitite that

wicked cc►rtli;'racy against the Christian Religion,
►'l►ici► gave birth to the French Eno/elopedle, ate
latter ferny —has become popular• for a DiCtionitry
of Arts and Sciences. Like most popular rerins,
however. it has not• been strictly confined within
the limits of its definition., but 11-.. s been Made to
'crunpreliend ninth miscellaneons Matter, tvithott'
'reference to any distinct system ; and from simi-
lar causes it has often omitted important aid-

des, and. given to those which were inserted very
disproportionate degrees of extension and inSs
pot ;mice.
There are two modes of arrangement for such
a work, each possessing its peculiar advantages,
the Alphabetical and Philological:. A Dictionary
is generally looked upon so much as-a work of re-
ference, and the business of referring to authori-
ties .consmouly. admits of. so little• delay and re-
flection, than .for the same reason that alphabeti-
cal writing has in most nations prevailed over all
attempts‘ at the formation of a philosophical.elov-
raeter, .a:phalmetic arrangement- has generally pre-
vailed over the arrangement par ordre des n'tatieres;
Nevertheless it issobviont that the.two modes of
arrangement are not wholly irreconcileable ; we
might perhaps say, that by their union alone can
such a work he rendered .perfectly applieable to
purpeses both of instruction 'anti ofsdaily use.
This is the-object proposed in the prospectus of
the Enryclopcedia Metropolitana. 'flue philosophi-
cal arrangement must of course prealomioate, the
oilier most he merely Hot:diary ; by means of the
one we shall -beetiableal to-understand a term sci-
eutifically,or historically, by means of the other
we shall he at cause directed to that part of die
Citcle of Sciences, or that point in the Stream of
History, whet e its import is developed, and its
relations are explained.
It is a just observation of Bacon's, that the
strength of all sciences consists in their harmony,
each sopporting:the other. This.profound remark
indeed ‘veakens, as was too much his ens•orm,
by a foolish and inapplicable simile. " Were it
not better," says be, " for a man in a fair room;
to set up one great light,. or branching candlestick.,
of lialos, than to go about with a small watch •
candle 'into ever y corner ?" To which We might
answer in his own formal way, " that is theme-
after as it nosy be, if you want only to hunt its
corners, your watch candle. maysserve you best ;
but if you ask whether a great light will illioni-
oiste a room better than a .small one,, methinks.
your question is right simple." Setting 7aside,
therefore, the simile, and reverting to the inipars
tart truth, that the sciences matually.itrengthen
and support each other, we may observe that in
Most Encyclopxdias. this object has, been lost
sight of; tio general view loss been taken of the
powers anA faculties. of the human usind, from
which, as from a vantage ground, we might trace
their mutual relations .and dependencies. There
ha's been no Prima Philosophia, as a General dis-
posing and commanding the.,whole order of the
!tattle ; but we have seen troops here and there,
marching* he knew not whither, or stationary
for no intelligible- purpose. The consequences
of this neglect of the harmony of the Scienceg,
are well pointed out in. the Prospectus before
us : " • The inapplicability," says the; writers
of a strictly scientific method to a modern En-
elopmdia, such as shall. include the whole of its
contents, has led to the abandonment of all prin-
ciple of. rational arrangement ; and it may be
safely asserted of all our Universal Dictionaries
hitherto, that the chief difference between them,
in respect of their plan, consists its the more or
less complete disorganization of the Sciences and
Systematic Arts; •now retaining .certain integral
portions of the system as integers, forming each
an entire treatise, but resigning these treatises to
the places severally assigned to,them by the acci-
dettt of their initial letters ; and now splintering
all alikeisato their fractional -parts, with an ar-
rangement merely alphabetical. Nor has the im-
perfection rested. here. This very. alphabetical
position was but .too frepently detertitined by the
caprice or convenience of the compiler ; inasmuch
as the division of parts into minor parts had no
settled limit. ,ThilS, one technical or scientific*
term included; as its subordinate, and to 'be ex-
plained in the same article (sometimes more,
lometimea.fewer) other terms : and the arrange-
ment became neither properly scientific, nor pro-
perly alphabetical: It had the incoriVeniencies of •
both, without the advantages of either."
" The results are such•as might have been ex-
pected, in part from time necessity of sncli'planss
and in part front the interference of individual
whialas..carelessness, and procrastination, to which
tVey.affordedahe amplest opportunities, and even
,frequent temptation. Nomerotis articles of iina
portant-information will.be fotind Where the reader*
'could have least expected to find theta ; while
ar-
ticles of _equal interest: (either because they-were
forgotten, or becanse the references to them were
Made by one writer, and the articles referred io
written by smother, of whose plan they tormed
no part) are in many cases not to he found at all."
A second result is, that an UniveraalDictirm
ary so constrncted,-,equallywith an Encyclopatlia
the most methodically arranged, requires alpha-
betical references ; but with a two-fold *inconve-
:Ocoee, front which, the latter would he free.
First,. thee references, instead of, being collected'in
one appropriate index,. -or at least iu some. known
portiorsof the work„are scattered throughout the
Whole ; anti this is no sligists annoyance,• when a
scientific term happens to Itaveanatty synonirnies,•
as for instance,_A7o.l,./slittogen., oiluAisticated
Air, &c. Secondly, the references most even-,
tually lead the reader abrough as many. 'volumes,
as these other Words happen -to be placed in,
which ate -necessary to be previously understood itt
order to a tolerable compreheasion of the term
first .sought. - Of the froth of tli!s rernsfk, and of
the extent to which it is trite; every reader who
wishes to acquire a general knowledge of the phy-
sical or phyair.logiral terms, that are now so often

. .
ntrOAl;Cel in "conveys and porml?..:' !ht.! .titre;
May readdy cOmince himsdf. fiv need ~„Iv veA.
tliioitgh any one nont!)er of a philosophical
zine 't;ferring. to an Eiii;yelo, te ha so• coostriictd.
for the poi port of each word which he doe, !"4
uinlef..;tatol, and prletical p'roois trill oL'itir
more titan sufficient trt.riumey„
" A third evil fesulting from the same c:ln'.6l
is the fares* want of all 14oportion in I IR! 51" 'CG
occupied by' each articie„. relatively either to ttl'
importance of the particular subject, or to tli!
promised limits of•ltie whole work. Hence tool:
arises that the Proprietors ate freventry reditc4c'
to the choice of "file work must be extend'
ed lute beyond the first expectation of the pa'
chasers, or the ratieles a.4%igned to the latter vo;
hop:es must be croilei! in scanty and stiperficP:
ahridg.ements. They cont'rart to give the Pribli'
an Voiversal DictiMotry of the Arts and Scienccl,
but the execution ontgrows the plan. Eitbet
openly then, or in the form of Supplemcntall
Volumes '(beating perhaps a large proportion
the wlitile work) this pledge must be redeernea'
iti boltlitases the disorder and dislocation, and.
in mint/ instances the deficiencies, remain far
unremcdied. We might look in rain for any
telligible. reason why 'this article is allowed th
branch out' on all sides., in full luxuriance of lirnb
atid folfag7e;'whileothers of equal, and not sel,.
dom of far greater, interest' are reduced to a mai
sterile definitletit:"— "-

'And lovrtlinh smaltest dwarfs, in narrow room
Throtig otihlberlts.'
_ _

" Thus, iii one of our most popular Encyclo'
pa..dias• a •word of barharons, or perhaps of sport ivg
" Alamodrility," occupies seven 01 eight,
'jibes the space assigned to Natural Theol,igi7+
which is dismissed to our astonishment, in a veil
inadequate definition of a line and a halt, WI
without even a 'single reference to any other petit
of, the.work."
"It requires but 'moment's reflection to
cobvinced, that the most voluminous Encyclop'
Ilia which has yet appeared, is incomparably tot'
narrow to contain an.Uhiversal History Of Know'
ledge in • its present state; and that the author/
and compileta "111 rational ‘d";
pectations i( only nothing shall be (mind excludd
from any other cause than the higher importanee
of that which has been admitted; in Order .thtt.
on all.subjects the •ends of genial infOririatirtri
at least may.he accompliShed. Where, therefore,
selection is so.iinperi(musly required, 'there must
be an equal necessity that certain fixed and intel'
gihle principles should be pre-established:"
• The Scheme Of the proposed 'Encyeloptedij
therefore divides itself into four, grand divisions/
the first comprehending the pure Sciences, the se'
cond,theniiked Sciences; the third History, anll
the-fourth Lexicography and- the whole is 'to
preeoe4,by an Introduetion,-setting forih th ere'
merits of ;Methodology, and is to be followed l)
an Inclex faotaining ..the alpltai>etical reiel cite&
"'Thus," says the Editor, " after its comple,io;
the work will appear as an ordcrly digtst of Al'
the peat points of human knowledge, and, nor'
withstanding , its comparatively moderate vittel'c,
and price, must form the inc,st Ferfect system
intellectual Instrnction Had Buie' utiamear•
has been hitherto submitted to rho Friends roll
Patrons of Art-, Scitnse. flist.ry, and genete
Liiet attire in Great ii it,in " •
• :inch an undertaking cannot but hav't!, the Lft;l4'l
Wishes of all who are well disposed to the re°.
pr;)gress of knowled;;e.--!-As,:trredly it' Will 'it"
mean subject. of coagrattilltion to- the
Public, if these fair proniises, nod wise and.ree
sonable undertakings, should, be carried, us Av 4
earnestly hope-they may be, into. full effect. %Cei
hear too much of '' the spit it of time -age'," and- 1.."
the " progress t>f: the..hurnan 'mind,— from, rile,
not only unqualified to judge of such. matters, bi'L
actually- employed > in polluting the • %valets 6t
science, if they cannot force back the stream?;'
• May the Eneyel-piedia Mettopolitana
hopts which its Prospectus encourages us to etl'
tel ! The attempt is ardnons. Its execution
must occupy a large portion of time, and will de'
mand Are' eo•operation of much and varied talent;
but it carried through,iir the spirit in which it i°
undertaken, it be an honour to our coiantri'
and a benefit to mankind.

cogitsli OF EXCILINGL..TuEsnaY, Dec.. 23.
Amsterdam l7 6 ti. 21,'
Ditto, at Sight . . 37 0
.
Atustel 4iitn , ) i to C. F.
Ditto, at Sight
Rot terclam s-f
Anhi-erp . • II 11 Ex. Al Wit'
lianilittrgh . . 34 6 204'
Altona .. . :
['axis, 3 Day's date
Ditto
U
24 60 ' P
Bettnicanx, ditto. 24 60- • ~
Frank fort on the Main
Madrid
CadiZ - • 33 F.lfecti/

Seville
Bilboa . SS
Gibraltar
Leghorn ..
(4en0a.... 47 —Venice
Malta... ..49 ---Naples..
Palermo , 12,11 per Of•
Lisbon ' • A . 59
Oporto ' '
Rio Janeiro
Dublin.... ..... 74.... :C0rk..... 841 per Cent.
Agio of the Bank on Holland— . 2 per Cent.
Portugal Gold, in Coin 1 .4 - 0 6 per Of
"Foreign 601(1,• in Bars 4 0 6
Silver, in Bars .

DIED.
On Friday morning, in the t3id year of his age, 1'411%17:'
Phillips, of York, butter-factor. Hr served the office
Sheriff-of:York its the year 17d4. It is remark:ooe that ,
death was occasioned by a mortification, which originated'
the improper cutting of a
On Tuesday morning, Miss Mary Smith, youngest dtitigtI i.:-
of Mr. Smith, of Scottlethorpe, near Bourn, LincolostOpr
Her younger brother, Thomas, residing at Grantham, had ';';
some time been dangerously iil of a starlet fever: in the earl,,.:
stage his mother attended bin], and hopes were given of ',,
recovery, when- the daughter, prompted—by feelin4S of
feet ion. fur bee mother, and of anxiety for her brotlif
recovery, went to Grantham, and insisted on taking al:::
herself the task of attending the bed of sickness :*
the lapse of about a week,- she lend the pleasure of
ing her briber fast recovering. and lend him rem°,`„,
Inner. Scarcely twenty-tonr hours aster she had delivereo4
her Charge to her anxious parents, the arniable vii I he''.;;;
chewed symptoms that the fever was enakinek rapid piogres7,
leer system, 'and after it had raxe.l with yhelente for six
she paid the tribute of her affection with her
distress Of 'her parents arid Of her brother at such TO Cl'
edtnits nut of description..

• - • _
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Letteri, (tJit-paid) must be atbiraistsd.

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