A Vindication of Natural Society: or, a View of the Miseries and Evils arising to ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER. THE late Mr. Burke, from a principle of unaffected humility, which they, who were the most intimately acquainted with his character, best know to have been in his estimation one of the most important moral duties, never himself made any collection of the various publications with which, during a period of forty years, he adorned and enriched the literature of this country. When, however, the rapid and unexampled demand for his "Reflections on the Revolution of France" had unequivocally testified his celebrity as a writer, some of his friends so far prevailed upon him, that he permitted them to put forth a regular edition of his Works. Accordingly, three volumes in quarto appeared under that title in 1792, printed for the late Mr. Dodsley. That A 3 That edition, therefore, has been made the foundation of the present, for which a form has been chosen better adapted to publick convenience. Such errours of the press as have been discovered in it are here rectified: in other respects it is faithfully followed, except that in one instance, an accident of little moment has occasioned a slight deviation from the strict chronological arrangement; and that on the other hand, a speech of conspicuous excellence, on his declining the poll at Bristol, in 1780, is here, for the first time, inserted in its proper place. As the activity of the Author's mind, and the lively interest which he took in the welfare of his country, ceased only with his life, many subsequent productions issued from his pen, which were received in a manner corresponding with his distinguished reputation. He wrote also various tracts, of a less popular description, which he designed for private circulation, 165 |