THE

SPIRIT

OF THE

PUBLIC JOURNALS

FOR

1797

BEING

AN IMPARTIAL SELECTION

OF THE MOST EXQUISITE

ESSAYS AND JEUX D'ESPRITS,

PRINCIPALLY PROSE,

THAT APPEAR IN THE NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER

PUBLICATIONS.

WITH

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND ANECDOTES

OF

ADVERTISEMENT

OF THE

EDITOR.

T

THE idea of this compilation was suggested by the great value that has frequently been set upon collections of scraps cut out of newspapers-the title by that of a French book*, of a nature somewhat similar.

In making the selection, recourse has seldom been had to publications of earlier date than the year 1793; a period when the collision of political parties, and the momentous incidents of the war, and of the French revolution, began to elicit stronger flashes of wit, and satire, from the mind of genius, than had been produced for a long time before.

By far the greater part of the Essays and Jeux d'Esprit thus rescued from oblivion, are

* L'Esprit des Journaux.
A 2

of