Excerpt from An Introduction to Algebra: With Notes and Observations, Designed for the Use of Schools and Places of Public Education Books of rudiments, there fore, concisely written, well digested, and methodically arranged, are treasures of inestimable value; and too many attempts cannot be made to render them perfect and complete. When the first principles of any art or science are firmly fixed and rooted in the mind, their application soon becomes easy, pleasant, and obvious the understand ing is delighted and enlarged; we conceive clearly, reason distinctly, and form just and satisfactory con elusions. But, on the contrary, when the mind, in stead of reposing on the stability of truth and received principles, is wandering in doubt and uncertainty, our ideas will necessarily be confused and obscure; and every step we take must be attended with fresh difficulties and endless perplexity. That the grounds, or fundamental parts, of every science, are dull and unentertaining, is a complaint universally made, and a truth not to be denied; but. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.