PHILOSOPHY IN SPORT MADE SCIENCE IN EARNEST; BEING AN ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY BY THE AID OF POPULAR TOYS AND SPORTS. [Illustration: Printer’s logo] FOURTH EDITION, WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS. LONDON: HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH-STREET; AND HIGHLEY, FLEET-STREET. 1839. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TO MISS MARIA EDGEWORTH. MADAM, To whom can a work which professes to blend amusement with instruction, be dedicated with so much propriety, as to one, whose numerous writings have satisfactorily demonstrated the practicability and value of such a union;--to one, who has stripped Romance of her meretricious trappings, and converted her theatre into a temple worthy of Minerva? Justly has it been observed, that to the magic pens of Madame D’Arblay and yourself we are indebted for having the Novel restored to its consequence, and, therefore, to its usefulness; and I may be allowed to add, that your Harry and Lucy has shown how profitably, and agreeably, the machinery of fiction may be worked for the dissemination of truth. That a life which has been so honourable to yourself, and so serviceable to the commonwealth, may be long extended, and deservedly enjoyed, is the fervent wish of THE AUTHOR.     _London, February 1839._ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TO THE READER. -------------- Tell me, gentle Reader, whether thou hast not heard of the box of Pandora, which was no sooner opened by the unhappy Epimetheus, than it gave flight to a troop of malevolent spirits, which have ever since tormented the human race.--Behold!--I here present you with a magic casket, containing a GENIUS alone capable of counteracting their direful spells. Thou mayest, perhaps, say that its aspect but ill accords with the richness of its promised treasure; so appeared the copper vessel found by the fisherman, as related in the Arabian tale; but, remember, that no sooner had he broken its mystic seal, than the imprisoned genius spread itself over the ocean and raised its giant limbs above the clouds. But this was an evil and treacherous spirit; mine is as benevolent as he is mighty, and seeks communion with our race for no other object than to render mortals virtuous and happy. To be plain, for you must already, my young friends, have unriddled my allegory, his name is PHILOSOPHY.