TO THE

RIGHT REVEREND

BEILBY

LORD BISHOP OF LONDON,

&c. &c.

MY LORD,

WHEN I published the first Edition of this Work, I was an obscure individual, and did not presume to inscribe it to any one; but, when a very large impression had been sold, and generally received with kindness, I felt the less reluctance in soliciting permission to prefix your Lordship's name to its second appearance.

I am also proud and happy to have this opportunity of expressing my gratitude, for the friendship with which your Lordship has for many years honoured me, and for the warm and generous kindness I have VOL. I. A

often experienced from you, in circumstances of great

perplexity and sorrow.

I shall ever remain, with the sincerest and most

respectful attachment,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's

Most obedient,

And most devoted Servant,

WILLIAM BELOE.

PREFACE

TO THE

SECOND EDITION.

THE sensations with which an author writes the Preface to the first and to the second edition of a Work are very different. In the first instance he is alarmed by various apprehensions; he is conscious that many errors will have escaped his most anxious attention; he knows the vigilance of many to detect, and the disposition of some to expose, the defects which may have escaped his own penetration or diligence. But perhaps he is, above all other considerations, tormented with the fear, that his literary labours may not meet with the reward adequate to his pains; may not suit the curiosity of the Public, and may glide away unnoticed to oblivion.-The emotions which, without any undue portion of self-complacency, he feels when he is introducing a second edition, are of a far more gratifying kind. He has ascended the hill, the approach to which seemed so steep and difficult; he must have been a favourite with many readers, and endured by more; his labour has not totally been lost,

and more or less of reputation must be attached to his

name.

I am not unwilling to acknowledge, that when the first Edition of this Book was published, I laboured under various difficulties, and I dismissed it to the world with the consciousness, that although I had bestowed much time and great labour upon the Work, it contained various inaccuracies and defects, beyond my ability to remove, or my opportunities to supply. During the progress of that time which has elapsed in the disposal of a very considerable impression, my powers of correcting various errors, and of making various important additions, have been extended and improved. The present Edition, therefore, appears certainly with fewer imperfections, and let me be permitted to hope, with many valuable accessions.

The recent discoveries made in Africa by Parke, Browne, Hornemann, and others, and the familiar knowledge of Egypt, which has been obtained, since the invasion of that country by the French, have likewise contributed, in no small degree, to illustrate many obscurities, and to supply much important information. To these I have not been inattentive, but have every where inserted such new matter as I conceived would be most acceptable, and most useful to the English reader.

But I must not pass without notice, nor indeed without a proper tribute of acknowledgment, the new edition of the French translation of Herodotus, by the venerable Larcher. It appears that the first Edition of my translation had not come into his hands, until he was about to put a finishing hand to his last work.