It would likewise be a great
improvement, with respect to the library, if the deficiencies
were made up, by purchasing all the books of character that are
not to be found already in the collection -- They might be classed
in centuries, according to the dates of their publication, and
catalogues printed of them and the manuscripts, for the
information of those that want to consult, or compile from such
authorities. I could also wish, for the honour of the nation,
that there was a complete apparatus for a course of mathematics,
mechanics, and experimental philosophy; and a good salary settled
upon an able professor, who should give regular lectures on these
subjects.
But this is all idle speculation, which will never be reduced to
practice -- Considering the temper of the times, it is a wonder to
see any institution whatsoever established for the benefit of the
Public. The spirit of party is risen to a kind of phrenzy,
unknown to former ages, or rather degenerated to a total
extinction of honesty and candour -- You know I have observed, for
some time, that the public papers are become the infamous
vehicles of the most cruel and perfidious defamation: every
rancorous knave every desperate incendiary, that can afford to
spend half a crown or three shillings, may skulk behind the press
of a newsmonger, and have a stab at the first character in the
kingdom, without running the least hazard of detection or
punishment.
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