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THE

LITERARY MAGNET

OF THE

Belles Lettres, Science, and the fine Arts:

CONSISTING OF

1. ORIGINAL SATIRICAL ESSAYS OF PERMANENT INTEREST;
II. SKETCHES OF SOCIETY, HUMOUROUS AND SENTIMENTAL;

III. ORIGINAL POETRY ;-IV. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS :

FORMING A BODY OF

ORIGINAL AND ELEGANT LITERATURE.

What though no marble breathes, no canvas glows,-

From every point a ray of genius flows!

Be our's to bless the more mechanic skill,

That stamps, renews, and multiplies at will:
And cheaply circulates through distaut climes
The fairest relic of the purest times,

ROGERS.

WITH

NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL, COPPER, AND WOOD.

EDITED BY TOBIAS MERTON, GENT.
Assisted by various Wits of the Day.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

WILLIAM CHARLTON WRIGHT, 65, PATERNOSTER ROw;

EWBANK, BRUSSELS;

AND MAY BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS AND POSTMASTERS.

1824.

PREFACE.

THE feelings that the Editor is prompted by, at the close of the First Volume of THE MAGNET, are similar to those of the commander of a vessel, on its arrival at the first port after a dangerous voyage. The supporters of his work he cannot but regard as his steady comrades, who forsook him not when his fragile bark was tossed to and fro on the ocean of contemporary rivalry, and who rejoiced with him when the approving gale of public opinion wafted him to the harbour of success.

To descend from metaphor, to plain matter of fact. The success THE LITERARY MAGNET has experienced from a generous and discerning Public, demands the grateful acknowledgments of every person concerned in the undertaking. It would be humility next to injustice, to say that nothing has been done on their part to merit that high distinction. On the contrary, neither labour or expence have been regarded in rendering the MAGNET worthy of patronage. With that intent, individuals of high literary talent and reputation have been engaged, and liberally remunerated, for furnishing our pages with matter that will be read with as much pleasure a century hence, as it