Читать книгу Notes and Queries, Number 25, April 20, 1850 - Various - Страница 1

We have again been called upon to reprint our first Four Numbers; that is to say, to print a Third Edition of them. No stronger evidence could be afforded that our endeavour to do good service to the cause of sound learning, by affording to Men of Letters a medium of intercommunication, has met with the sympathy and encouragement of those for whose sake we made the trial. We thank them heartily for their generous support, and trust we shall not be disappointed in our hope and expectation that they will find their reward in the growing utility of "NOTES AND QUERIES," which, thanks to the readiness with which able correspondents pour out their stores of learning, may be said to place the judicious inquirer in the condition of Posthumus, and

And here we may be permitted to avail ourselves of this opportunity, as, indeed, we feel compelled to do, to impress upon our correspondents generally, the necessity of confining their communications within the narrowest possible limits consistent with a satisfactory explanation of the immediate objects of them. "He that questioneth much," says Bacon, "shall learn much, and content much; but especially if he apply his Questions to the skill of the Persons whom he asketh. For he shall give them occasion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge. But let his Questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a Poser; and let him be sure to leave other Men their turn to speak." What Bacon has said so wisely and so well, "OF DISCOURSE," we would apply to our little Journal; and beg our kind friends to remember, that our space is necessarily limited, and that, therefore, in our eyes, Brevity will be as much the Soul of a communication as it is said to be that of Wit.