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also to say, that as I wished my book to possess an interest of its own, and as I was anxious, as far as the nature of my undertaking permitted me, that the different publications on the subject of Faustus should as little as possible interfere with each other, it gratifies me to find that my notes are for the greater part derived from sources wholly different from those of Mr. Hayward and Mr. Blackie; from both of which-in particular those of Mr. Hayward, who has left nothing undone I have received much pleasure and instruction.

As this volume has been for a considerable time announced, I ought to state that the whole of the translation, and the greater part of the notes, were printed before January last. The delay in the transmission of proofs between England and Ireland necessarily made the printing more tedious than if I had been resident in London. The state of political excitement was such during the whole interval, as to have made me in common with the authors of much more important works anxious to defer the publication of mine to some calmer period. That excitement still continues, and seems so unlikely to subside, that it is with considerable hesitation I venture to publish this volume-so impossible does it seem at present, even were the translation what it ought to be, to recall the public mind to any

thing so remote from the all-absorbing subjects of political interest by which it is now occupied, and demanding the exercise of such tranquil tastes, as the study of a philosophical poem.

Dublin, North Frederick Street,
April 23. 1835.

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FAUSTUS.

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