He conceived the idea of a periodical that would cover every topic the educated public was interested in, from commerce to poetry, and tried to convince several London printers and booksellers to take up the idea.
Han fik den ide at udgive et tidsskrift, som skulle dække ethvert emne, et uddannet publikum ville være interesseret i, fra handel til poesi, og forsøgte at overbevise adskillige bogtrykkere og boghandlere i London om at tage ideen op.