INTRODUCTION.

TO THE PUBLIC.

HAT "there is nothing new under the sun,'

THA

has been received as a truism since the days of Solomon; and though it may have occasionally been disputed by the fabricators of philosophical, metaphysical, and political systems; the applicants for patents; or the inventors of nostrum medicines; yet the general suffrage of mankind has certainly, for thirty centuries past, been in its favour. To pass by graver subjects, we would exemplify its verity, in a department, where ingenuity has ever exercised its chief energies; where fancy has been most frolicksome, and invention most indefatigable; and where, consequently, we might most reasonably expect to meet with novelty; in the WORLD OF FASHION, to wit. But, alas! the vanity of searching for it here, will be sufficiently obvious, when we recol

lect, that the two chief characteristics of high life, its nakedness, and conversion of night into day, have been preceded by examples of the most remote antiquity; the one, by the undress of primæval innocence; the other, by the exemplary orgies of the votaries of certain Heathen Deities, who held,

and who,

"'Twas only day-light that made sin ;"

"When the Dragon womb

"Of Stygian darkness spet her thickest gloom,
"And made one blot of all the air,”

were wont, from time immemorial, to celebrate their pure and rational rites with

"Midnight shout and revelry,
"Tipsy dance and jollity."

MILTON.

As far as regards ourselves, however, and the work now offered to the world, we, without the slightest hesitation, give our full assent to the axiom of the wise man not presuming to suppose, that we can present any thing to a sagacious, enlightened, and well-informed public; (for by such epithets we perceive it to be generally designated, when appealed to for patronage and protection,) which, under some modification or other, it had not been in the possession of, long before our pamphlets existed, even in conception. We honestly announce to the future readers of

the Omnium Gatherum, that our highest merit, even in what may be denominated the original matter of our sheets, will not surpass that of a thorough-bred French cook, who, by his skill in the science of novel combination, effects such strange metamorphoses in the simplest and most common products of the animal and vegetable worlds, as to give them the semblance of something that has never heretofore been seen, heard of, or imagined. To the enjoyment, however, of condiments of this description, we boldly venture to invite the public; and, in order to satisfy our guests, that, however disguised the dishes shall be, nothing will be placed before them but wholesome diet, we will proceed to make them acquainted with those elements, from which we shall draw all the materials of our bill of fare: and here, for a moment, we drop our metaphor.

RELIGION.-Deeply sensible of the seriousness of this subject, and equally aware of its importance, we would not profane its sanctity by mingling it with lighter themes. Neither anxious to proselyte to any particular party of christians, nor desirous of dogmatizing with respect to any particular religious opinions, we shall not admit into our plan the discussion of controverted points of theology, nor the consideration of dis

puted passages of Holy writ: but content ourselves, with offering occasionally to our readers, such proofs of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and illustrations of their text, as arise from a comparison of the state of manners in the oriental world, in the present day, with that described in the Bible; drawn from the accounts of those who have enjoyed the opportunity of personally remarking the customs and habits of the inhabitants of the East, and of becoming acquainted, on the spot, with their notions, opinions, and traditions.

MORALS. That every literary work should have a tendency to discountenance vice, and give confidence to virtue, is a principle which we 'hold to be both sacred and true. But, as in all objects of human pursuit there are more modes than one of obtaining the end in view, so, in the business of reformation, we would willingly adopt that method, which works its effect through the medium of the agreeable. In a word, we would unite the utile with the dulce; exercise the feathery rod of Horace, rather than the cato-nine-tails of Juvenal; or, to come nearer our own times, imitate (if it were within our ability) the elegant raillery of Addison, in preference to the "grave saws" of the powerful, but tremendous