DEDICATION.

Ir is so universally a custom, among authors of any note, to dedicate their works, and there is, indeed, such an evident propriety in it, that a book without any dedication prefixed, is like a face without a nose; or, as the venerable subject of the following memoir has justly observed, "like a door without a threshold, or a building without a courtyard, or portico." It is necessary, therefore, that we should comply with this custom; but, as we feel no anxiety to have our pages read across the Atlantic, we shall not dedicate them to any distinguised personage in England or Scotland; nor shall we dedicate them to the illustrious John Doe and Richard Roe, Esquires, because the Triangle has been commended to their patronage, in a style so fine, and with such powerful appeals to their discernment, benevolence, and justice, as to induce the belief that, for the present at least, they would give very little countenance to any other work. And, to make the matter short, we shall adopt, with a trifling omission, the negative dedication penned by Hogarth :

"Not dedicated to any prince in Christendom, for fear it might be thought an idle piece of arrogance; not dedicated to any man of quality, for fear it might

be thought too assuming; not dedicated to any learned body of men, for fear it might be thought an uncommon piece of vanity; not dedicated to any one particular person, for fear of offending another: THEREFORE, dedicated to Nobody; but if, for once, one may suppose Nobody to be Every body, as every body is said to be nobody, then is this work dedicated to Every body,"

By their most humble and devoted servant,

CORRECTOR.

A SKETCH, &c.

BIOGRAPHICAL notices of celebrated characters are deservedly ranked among the best sources of gratification and improvement.

A faithful detail of their history, exhibiting the incidents which successively contributed to advance them in the world, marking the gradual development of their talents and virtues, recording the performances by which they have attracted public attention, and commanded general applause, cannot fail to be pleasing to the inquisitive mind, and to suggest many useful lessons to the reflecting reader.

But there is, perhaps, scarcely any thing more difficult than to give a satisfactory portrait of an illustrious person. Those traits of character which particular exigencies bring to lighttalents elicited under extraordinary circumstances, diffuse a lustre around the man, and make an impression in his favour, which it would be vain for the biographer to expect to preserve, To attempt it would subject him to the charge of extravagance. He may not, however, withhold all merited panegyric; and to discharge his duty in such a manner as to entirely avoid censure, and yet do some justice to the character he would delineate, is evidently a task of no small difficulty. It is so, especially when he writes of one whose career of greatness is not yet finished; for, in this case, delicacy imposes a restraint-a restraint to which it is painful to submit.

The public curiosity has been, of late, strongly excited respecting the subject of this memoir-an anonymous writer who, by the elegant and benevolent productions of his pen, by truly

catholic and disinterested addresses to the good people of this flourishing city, endeavours to dispel the darkness of mysti cism, and effect a reformation in the doctrines which are taught in many of our churches.

We shall be happy in making the public acquainted with this extraordinary man, and in giving a few biographical particulars which are calculated to afford a degree of gratification.

No one, we hope, will accuse us of a design to flatter, or of sacrificing truth at the shrine of fulsome adulation. Nothing can be more remote from our intention. Our wish is to be faithful to present a correct picture of one who is considered á paragon of virtue-the wonder of his profession-and a most brilliant star in the centre of a bright and grand constellation.

Dr PEDAGOGUS, THE REFORMER, whose fame we are solicitous to extend, it will be presumed, has descended from ancestors of great respectability. We regret that we know so little of his parentage, because we are sensible that every reader will be anxious to be particularly informed on this point; and, not to disappoint this natural curiosity entirely, we will state that he is a grandson of Richard Roe, Esq. and a great grandson of John Doe, Esq., gentlemen celebrated for their longevity and learning.

He gives this account of them in the dedication of a work he has recently published: "Your career began before the reigns of the Henrys and Edwards; and you witnessed the conflicts between the red and white rose; you lived through the republic, and the storms raised by Cromwell; you witnessed the calamities of the inauspicious house of Stuart-saw the restoration, the revolution, and have known the times ever since; you saw and heard all the controversies of Papist and Protestant, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, Roundheads, Independents, Covenanters, Puritans, Friends," &c. &c. &c. "But, Gentlemen, that trait which I especially admire in your character, is that independence of mind which never has forsaken you in the worst of times, when tyrants frowned and threatened; nor in the softest and most luxurious, when dissipation allures the brave, and flattery circumvents the wise."

As he proceeds in this tribute of respect to his venerable