LETTER I. OF THE USE AND ADVANTAGE OF ASTRONOMY. DEAR SIR, I HAVE always loved the sciences for their own sake, but I now wish to cultivate them for yours. You have convinced me, by your amiable and polite manners, that your mind is formed for the acquisition of truth and knowledge; and if I can afford you any assistance, in directing your studies and pursuits, I shall consider it as the most agreeable employment of my life. The mode of communication you propose, is, I am afraid, less favourable to improvement, than your partiality in my favour will suffer you to imagine; but as our different situations and engagements deny me the pleasure of a personal intercourse, I shall be happy to promote your views, and contribute to your information, by every means in my power. Astronomy seems to be the science you are desirous of being first acquainted with; and I know not that you could have made a better choice. This subject will awaken every faculty of your mind, and is, of all others, the best calculated to B |